


The Omega Chronicles

by hunter139



Series: hunter 139's multiverse of stories [6]
Category: Aliens vs Predators Series - Various Authors, Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms, Mass Effect - All Media Types, Red vs. Blue, Star Wars - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Crossover, Multiple Crossovers, Multiple Universes Colliding, Multiverse, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-04
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-06 21:31:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 74,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20513810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hunter139/pseuds/hunter139
Summary: The Pirate Queen of Omega meets with the ruthless Sith Lord Darth Maul to discuss a business proposition, but this kicks off a chain of events that could change the balance of power in the criminal underworld.





	1. Meetings

Aria T'Loak sat waiting in her booth overlooking the interior of the Afterlife club.

Omega was running smoothly under her rule since the Reaper War had ended years ago, her influence once again encompassed the Terminus Systems and Citadel Space, and business in the criminal underworld was good.

However she was worried that was about to change: A few days ago, Darth Maul, the head of the multidimensional crime syndicate known as the Shadow Collective, requested a meeting with the ruler of Omega to discuss a business proposition.

The Shadow Collective had their hands in criminal operations all over IDA territory, and now it seemed they wanted Omega.

Aria had agreed, but knew that she really had no choice in the matter, because Maul could take over the station if he really wanted to.

Despite their recent actions betraying the Flood, the Shadow Collective still had a military large enough to warrant considerable concern from the IDA (though not enough to warrant the full attention of the other two superpower galaxies), and although Omega had upgraded defenses, courtesy of Cerberus during their brief time in control of her station, the Shadow Collective could take control or destroy Omega if they put everything into the effort.

"And from what I've heard of Maul, if he wants this station, he certainly would order an all-out attack on Omega."

That's why she had agreed to a meeting with the Sith Lord on her station; he'd have to come into her territory, and if negotiations went south, she would be in a position to dictate terms, or eliminate him.

Plus, she was curious to hear what the proposition was, and you could learn a lot about someone through a simple conversation, since she wanted to know what Maul was like.

At that moment, one of her lieutenants approached and informed her that Maul's fighter had docked with the station, and a fleet of Shadow Collective ships were hanging back a considerable distance from Omega.

"He's smart enough to bring reinforcements, I'll give him that," Aria said, and waited for Maul's arrival.

She didn't have to wait long; 10 minutes later, the door to the interior of the club opened, and the delegation strode through.

Two humanoid figures, with a crown of horns on their heads, strolled through first. One was two meters tall, covered in black armor, had a cybernetic left arm, and his face was covered in yellow and brown tattoos. This was Savage Opress, Darth Maul's brother and second-in-command.

In front of him was a shorter figure, wearing a black and brown tunic that exposed a strip of his bare chest. His legs and lower waist were clearly mechanical and his face and body was covered in red and black tattoos. Despite the brute standing behind him, he carried himself with an aura of authority and fear, leaving no doubt that this was Darth Maul.

Following the two Zabraks were a pair of Mandalorian bodyguards, with their armor painted in shades of red and black, that were no doubt members of Maul's elite Death Watch forces.

Most of the people on Omega had seen weird species and individuals from all over the multiverse but this group was so bizarre in appearance that most of the people in the club turned their heads when they saw him... and the ones who recognized them backed away in fear, thus Maul was unimpeded as he walked up the stairs into Aria's booth.

She sat on her couch looking away from the group as her guards scanned them; they were carrying weapons, which was no surprise as all customers were allowed to enter the club armed, but the scans proved they were who they said they were.

Aria gestured to Maul, who walked up the short incline to the sofa.

"Aria T'Loak," he said by way of greeting.

"Lord Maul, have a seat," she replied and as he silently took a seat across from her, she said,

"Let's talk."


	2. Negotiations

Darth Maul had plans for his conquest of the multiverse: having gained the allegiance of Death Watch, Black Sun, the Pyke Syndicate and the Zann Consortium through a series of threats and well-placed decapitations, the young Sith Lord was well on his way to becoming the ruler of the criminal underworld.

There had been some setbacks, of course. Being manipulated into reviving the Gravemind from his defeat at the hands of the Republic and the Separatists and then being forced to serve that monster, had not been a part of Maul's plan. But if Sidious could adapt his plans to changing situations, so could his former apprentice. The Shadow Collective had prepared dozens of planet-killer weapons and hidden them inside multiple Brethren Moons. During a crucial battle between the Moons and the Republic and the Separatists, the Collective set them off, severely hurting (but not crippling) the Gravemind`s ability to wage war and allowing them to flee.

This had critical benefits for the Sith Lord: Not only did they force the two intergalactic superpowers to leave them be and focus on the larger threat, not only did this act gain him considerable clout in the criminal underworld, and not only did they escape into IDA territory, but Maul had outsmarted the _Gravemind _in the process. It was beautiful: the Gravemind had been aware of Maul`s traitorous intent since it began, but the Sith Lord had known about that and therefore passed up several ample opportunities to make a move.

Instead, the Shadow Collective had struck after the Gravemind had recovered the capsule he had launched through time that contained pure Flood spores. Thanks to this, the Gravemind's attention was diverted into breeding the Flood back to a sufficient size and keeping that little project a secret from the rest of the Multiverse.

And because his plan had been so perfectly executed, it meant that the Gravemind`s focus was elsewhere, while the Shadow Collective was free to operate unhindered from behind the scenes. Maul's actions had revealed the Flood's return before they were ready, shifting attention away from him, and forcing the superpowers to concentrate on the Gravemind.

However, he still needed allies and territory (if for no other reason than to force them between him, Savage and the Flood) and the best place to find both was in the Terminus Systems. He had contacted Aria T`Loak, the ruler of the trade capital of the Terminus Systems to discuss an alliance between the two crime lords, one that he would prefer to gain with little bloodshed.

This was not out of any sense of morality or decency, as Maul was above such concepts, but rather pure pragmatism: Omega was known to have a lawless population, but Aria was known as the ruler who could best keep the people in line. If she died or abdicated, Omega would be thrown into chaos, and any military force would be hard-pressed to regain the balance of power. The Shadow Collective could do it given time, but that would be a waste of effort and material, when he could simply have the her on his side.

That was why he had agreed to meet her on her station. Maul knew he needed to make a decent impression and argument to get her support, but things got to a head in the negotiations, when she mentioned his involvement with the Flood.

* * *

It was those the eyes that unnerved her the most about him. Through her long life, Aria T`Loak had met individuals of many different species, but Darth Maul disturbed her more than anyone she had ever dealt with. What she knew of his personality didn`t help: Raised as a Sith Lord and trained to use the Dark Side of the Force, Maul was a brutally efficient killing machine enveloping a core of absolute rage.

According to rumors he had been cut in half by a Jedi, but pure hatred enabled him to pull through and eventually come to where he was now, sitting across from him on her couch. Aria could tell that he was genuine about his offer just by looking in his eyes, but that wasn`t all she saw. She saw that Maul was prepared to level the station if he was denied and that he would kill her with his bare hands if necessary.

But the thing she could see in Maul`s eyes was pain: several decades worth of pain and suffering. That view made her sick.

Still she hadn`t become the ruler of Omega by being soft. Maul had agreed to most of her terms, but they came to a head when she had mentioned his involvement with the Flood.

"Our time with the Gravemind was not by my choice." he said quietly, with a hint of anger creeping into his voice.

"And how can I be sure that you're no longer indoctrinated or brainwashed?" Aria calmly replied, as her entourage grew tense, prepared to draw their weapons.

"You're suggesting that abomination allowed itself to be mutilated by us?"

"I just want to know where my potential allies stand before I agree to anything." She said warningly. Maul silently glared at her before responding.

"What would help convince you?" He calmly asked. Aria stood up from the couch, so she was standing above him, knowing this would rile him up. She paused for a moment before she answered the lingering question."

"Prove it to me."

At this, Maul smirked, eyes gleaming, causing Aria to wonder if she had pushed his temper too far.

At blinding speed, the Sith Lord leapt up from the couch, and in one fluid motion, drew his darksaber and held the ignited blade against Aria's throat. At the same instant, Aria had drawn her pistol, putting it right to the side of Maul's head.

"Is this enough proof?!" He growled, his voice having grown deeper and monstrous.

Simultaneously, Aria's guards had drawn their weapons, while Savage had ignited his own lightsaber, and the Death Watch soldiers pointed their built in weapons at the guards. For a long moment, no one made a sound, then Aria broke the silence;

"A standoff then."

"This can end with your death, or it can end with us as allies." Maul calmly replied, his tone having shifted into a softer pitch again.

"You really think you can kill me?" Aria asked,

"Do you want to find out?" Maul threatened, edging the blade closer to her neck as she tightened her finger on the trigger.

The entourage and the club tensely watched as Aria and Maul were locked in a death glare.

Eventually Aria blinked first. Pulling her gun away and gesturing to her guards to the same, she said

"We have a deal, access to Omega's resources and facilities in exchange for protection forces, a 10% cut of your business profits, and your help to bring the Eclipse, Blue Suns and Blood Pack under my control once again."

Smiling, Maul deactivated the darksaber and likewise gestured to his escort to stand down.

"Agreed, welcome to the Shadow Collective, Aria T'Loak."

Pulling back, Aria smiled and said, "so let's discuss business. "


	3. Blue Suns and an offer

Planet Zorya

In an office building in the middle of the capital, the publicly known CEO of the Blue Suns, Solem Dal'serah, sat in a boardroom, surrounded by other members of the Blue Suns command including Darner Vosque, who had taken control of the company during the Reaper war after the death of Commander Vido Santiago.

Despite his unimpressive combat record, Vosque had been slippery enough to maintain control of the Blue Suns throughout the Reaper War and afterwards, during the time of the IDA and the Great Flood War.

This meeting had been called to discuss their profits for the next fiscal year, but midway through the meeting, they were interrupted by an alert from Zorya orbital watch. The sentries reported that several ships, including three Kom'rk-class fighter/transports, had entered orbit and were requesting permission to land outside Blue Suns' corporate HQ, in order to discuss an alliance.

Vosque, greedy and conniving as always, hailed the incoming ships to grant them clearance to land outside the building. As soon as the transmission ended, he began another one, ordering extra Blue Suns guards to the spaceport with orders to kill the occupants of the craft and obtain their ships and weapons.

Smiling, Vosque returned to the meeting at hand, nevertheless eagerly awaiting the news that Blue Suns had gained access to Mandalorian ships, weapons and armor.

* * *

As the first Kom'rk fighter touched down, the guards stationed outside quickly noticed a few oddities with the incoming flights.

For starters, the lead ship that had just touched down was painted with gray with dull red highlights, in contrast to the other fighters, which were colored gray with blue highlights.

For another thing, the two other fighters weren't landing; instead they were hovering over the spaceport, with the rest of the spacecraft touching down elsewhere throughout the city.

Confused, the guards shrugged and went to greet the arriving crew with a combination of kind words and bullets to the head. The Blue Suns had their orders and they would follow them. Despite their cutthroat nature, discipline had made this merc band superior to their rivals in the Blood Pack and Eclipse, and these visitors would soon realize that.

Unfortunately for the guards on the ground, they already knew about the 'superiority' of the Blue Suns, which was the reason the Shadow Collective had targeted them first.

As several squads of Blue Suns troopers reached the fighter, the boarding ramp opened and two nightmares exited from the airlock. As the troopers gaped in fear, Darth Maul and Savage Opress strode onto the landing platform, igniting their lightsabers as their boots made contact with the concrete pad.

Upon seeing the activated weapons in their midst, the Blue Suns started firing upon the Sith Lords, who simply twirled their lightsabers around with quick and practised precision, vaporizing the shots mid-flight.

The Suns kept firing, knowing that the brothers couldn't evade or block the shots forever.

But they didn't need to.

Concurrently to the events on the ground, the bellies of the other two Kom'rk transports opened up, disgorging four squads of Death Watch soldiers. Flying down with their jetpacks, several fired their back-mounted missiles at the crowded Blue Suns platoon, killing or maiming half of them in one salvo.

This turn of events forced the Suns to redirect their attention toward the airborne threat, which gave an opening to Maul and Savage. Allowing the dark side to flow through them, the brothers pounced, using Force-propelled leaps and bounds to put themselves in the midst of the Suns.

In close quarters combat against two feral yet skilled lightsaber wielders, the mercenaries never stood a chance. The prepared ambush had turned into a disorganized rout within 5 minutes.

Several Death Watch soldiers flew down and landed around their masters. A captain, with his helmet covered in spikes that mimicked the crown of horns coming from Maul and Savage, stepped forward requesting orders.

"Secure the city. Kill anyone who resists." Maul ordered, before gesturing to several of his soldiers.

"The six of you, come with us." He said. Complying, the Death Watch warriors followed their masters as they made their way towards the corporate HQ.

Inside the facility, the invading party encountered heavy resistance from the security forces in the building. It seemed that a squad of Blue Suns soldiers was around every corner, so much so that the Mandalorians started unleashing their flamethrowers at every junction.

Halfway through the facility, it seemed that the Blue Suns had run out of guards, as security mechs had been deployed in their stead. Maul and Savage cut through any LOKI and FENRIS mechs with ease, and when they came across a YMIR mech, Death Watch would just unleash their built-in arsenals against them, reducing them into a pile of scrap metal.

Within 15 minutes, the strike team had arrived at the top floor, and they quickly made their way to the boardroom...

* * *

Vosque and Dal'serah stared in horror at the scene unfolding beyond the window.

Death Watch and Black Sun soldiers had ambushed multiple military bases, catching most of the capital's defenses and soldiers with their guard down. Meanwhile, the Zann Consortium had deployed armored forces with infantry support throughout the city, with Canderous assault tanks and Mobile Pulse Cannons making short work of what little armor support was still available to the Blue Suns.

The Shadow Collective had landed an invasion force throughout the capital and reports from orbit were equally grim, as a Collective war fleet had arrived and smashed the Suns' home fleet to bits.

Orbital reinforcements would take time to arrive, which left groundside positions vulnerable to orbital bombardment of the Shadow Collective's Aggressor-class destroyers. Invasion forces were already landing at other cities across the planet, costing the Blue Suns personnel, resources, supplies, income and material.

This was a disaster.

As Vosque watched a Mantis gunship get blown out of the air by a Death Watch missile, an incoming chime alerted the boardroom to intruders outside. Two seconds later, the door exploded inward, blowing dust and smoke all over the Blue Suns leadership. This was followed by blaster bolts, aimed precisely to kill the bodyguards present, while leaving the board members alive.

Mandalorian warriors filed into the room, weapons aimed at the cowering commanders. As the dust and smoke settled, Maul and Savage entered the room, crimson lightsabers deactivating as they did. Scanning the room, Maul's eyes fell on Vosque, who started to regain his composure as the two Sith Lords calmly stalked towards them.

"What is the meaning of this?" Vosque demanded angrily, seemingly oblivious to the weapons pointed at him.

"I have a message from Aria T'Loak," Maul replied, "She gave you her support during the Reaper War, and now it's time to return the favor."

Vosque bristled at the mention of Aria. 'Of course that blue whore was behind this attack,' "You ransack our headquarters, kill our soldiers, burn our facilities to the ground, and now you just expect us to join with you and her?!"

The Sith Lord simply nodded.

"You tell that bitch that she'll get no support from the Blue Suns, and that this means war! For her and you!" Four of the Blue Suns leadership nodded in agreement with Vosque's words before they remembered the guns currently pointed at their heads.

Maul's head tilted slightly as he regarded the Blue Suns CEO.

"Is that your final word?" Vosque crossed his arms defiantly in response. Maul shrugged.

"As you wish." Turning to the Zabrak behind him, Maul gestured toward Vosque, "Savage?"

"With pleasure," the hulking brute replied with a menacing smile.

Gripping Vosque's neck with Force, Savage lifted up the gasping man, letting him hang suspended in front of the terrified board members for a moment, before hurling Vosque's body through the window.

Turning away from Vosque's screams of terror as he fell a hundred stories, Maul looked back towards the table.

"Anyone else?"

No one replied. They were too scared to after what they had just witnessed. That window was rated to withstand a missile strike, yet that Zabrak had sent Vosque through it like it was made of tissue paper.

Maul then walked up to Del'serah, ignoring the pungent odor wafting from the batarian's pants.

"You're next in line to lead?"

Del'serah nodded.

Maul smiled. "Good. Order the Blue Suns to stand down, and tell them that they now work for the Aria T'Loak and the Shadow Collective," a turian stood up to object, but Maul raised his fist, leaving the turian gasping for air.

"Now."

* * *

Eclipse captain Enoli sat down in the bridge of her ship, listening to the report coming from Zorya. Apparently, Blue Suns had chosen to side with Aria T'Loak, devoting manpower, equipment and funds to her cause.

Enoli was curious as to how Aria got the Blue Suns to join her, but her musings were interrupted by an incoming call from a potential buyer. An audio only call. That raised a few flags with her, and she quickly answered.

"I hear Eclipse is proficient at smuggling." Said a male voice, deliberately distorted by vocal software.

"You heard correctly," Enoli replied, her suspicions growing with each passing second.

"I need some crates delivered to several specific locations, unopened." said the voice.

"And where would these crates be delivered to?" she asked.

"4 supply stations in the Omega Nebula; one in the Fathar system (this raised the alarm in Enoli's mind; the Eclipse had a base in that system on the planet Lorek), one in the Arinlarken system, and 2 in the Amada system."

Enoli frowned as the alarm bells in her head became warning klaxons. The stations mentioned were likely the one that were rumored to be commissioned by Aria T'Loak as supply and waypoint bases. They were likely feeding supplies to Omega itself. "And how much is this worth to you, Mr...?"

"Call me Burke," the voice said, "and we're willing to pay 50000 credits per crate delivered."

Enoli's jaw dropped when she heard the amount. Whatever this guy was smuggling, it wasn't any type of illegal drugs. They weren't worth nearly that much. The only likely products that could be worth smuggling for that much, would be some kind of weaponry.

Whatever the risks were on this job, the reward was too much to pass up.

Still, as an Eclipse captain, she knew better than to just agree to those terms.

"We'll do it for 75000." She haggled. There was silence for a moment, then Burke responded.

"60000"

"70000, take it or leave it." She argued.

Burke paused then replied, "65000, final offer, or we'll take our business elsewhere."

Enoli paused, then nodded to herself.

"Agreed."

"Excellent, we'll contact you later with the pickup and drop off locations." The line went dead as Burke disconnected.

* * *

In a sterile control room, Burke shut off communications and turned to the figure standing behind him.

"We're ready to begin?" The man asked. Burke nodded.

"Our soldiers are loading the crates with their cargo, they'll be ready for pickup within the hour." Burke gestured to the monitor. The video showcased a group of white-armored soldiers overseeing a group of heavily armored combat androids as they loaded the items in question.

The PMC soldiers had backed away as far as they could from the combat androids; an understandable reaction, given the nature of the cargo they were carrying.

The figure nodded, "Our benefactors want this operation to be quick, stealthy and most importantly, untraceable. The man said, before turning his gaze to Burke.

"Make sure there is no evidence that the crates belong to us." He said threateningly, before turning on his heel and walking away.

Burke gulped. "Yes, Mr. Weyland."


	4. Blood Pack and greed

Planet Garvug

Ganar Yulaz had experienced a lot in his long life: the bloodlust he felt when he survived the krogan rite of passage, the pride he felt when he rose to become the leader of the Blood Pack, following in the footsteps of his clansman Ganar Wrang, and the satisfaction at wrestling control of the gang from the vorcha after the Reaper War.

He was a warrior, one to be feared and respected, for he commanded the strongest and most infamous security company in the Skyllian Verge.

Which is why today's events were both baffling and infuriating.

Darth Maul, the infamous criminal warlord, had landed an army on Garvug, consisting of Death Watch warriors, Black Sun soldiers, Blue Suns mercs and Zann Consortium soldiers and vehicles. What was even more surprising was that soon after landing, Maul had contacted the Blood Pack leader, requesting that he join up with him and Aria T'Loak.

Yulaz felt his blood boil as he stared at the hologram of the Sith Lord in front of him, whose soft voice displayed a lack of respect or fear and was tinged with a sense of... boredom.

"You're asking the Blood Pack to join you and that asari, and yet you offer no payment?!" Yulaz snarled angrily.

"Join us or die, the choice is yours." Maul replied.

Enraged now, Yulaz cut the transmission and ordered the forces in the capital to converge on the assembled Shadow Collective army, who were outnumbered given the large amount of vorcha and krogan that were on the planet.

As the Blood Pack legion marched, Maul stood on a hill, unconcerned with the horde of vorcha and krogan converging on them. Given the histories of both species, he knew that bombarding the planet from orbit wouldn't win their respect or allegiance, and on the advice of Savage, chose to meet might with might, perfectly willing to prove to the krogan that the Shadow Collective is not to be trifled with.

As the Blood Pack reached the outskirts of the city, the Collective's secret weapon landed on planet.

"Deploy the annihilator droid," Maul ordered, a slight smirk growing on his face.

The Scorpenek annihilator droid clambered out of the Zann Consortium transport and rose up to its full height, observing the opposing army, who had paused to marvel at the sight of the massive scorpion-shaped automata. Deploying it's bubble shaped ray-particle shield, the droid started unleashing volleys of laser fire at the assembled Blood Pack army, reducing the few Tomkas to smoking husks and vaporizing dozens of vorcha and krogan with each volley. Returning fire simply splashed harmlessly against the annihilator's shield, and soon most of the vorcha had broken ranks and fled.

Maul smiled as the annihilator droid carved a path through the Blood Pack, allowing the rest of the Shadow Collective to storm the capital. Known as the 'big brother" of the feared destroyer droids, the Scorpenek annihilator droid was one of the deadliest weapons in the arsenal of the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

During the Clone Wars, a single annihilator was known to be capable of turning an armored column of a dozen AT-TEs into a pile of smoking wrecks, and had been responsible for several Separatist victories. Because of this, the droids were astronomically expensive, the Colicoids having built less than a hundred in total. After the war, the Empire had collected the remaining annihilator droids and transferred them to Palpatine's citadel on the planet Byss.

Consequently, when Byss was destroyed, the galaxy thought all the remaining annihilators had been destroyed with them, but Maul had found one while searching through one of his master's old vaults, safely hidden in the Outer Rim.

It had taken a lot of time and energy to reprogram the annihilator, but as Maul and Savage watched it tear apart Blood Pack fortifications, they knew it was well worth the effort and expense.

Moving into the city, Maul and Savage headed straight for the HQ of Ganar Yulaz, with most of the resistance from the Blood Pack crushed in their path.

As they arrived at the top floor, the brothers were greeted by Yulaz charging at them. They had no time to react as the 500 pound krogan body-slammed into them both, grabbed them and then hurled them into the center of the room.

Savage recovered first and was able to stop Yulaz's second charge with a combination of his own raw strength and the power of the Force. Holding the krogan in place, Savage unleashed a brutal flurry of Force assisted punches that wore down the Blood Pack leader. Yulaz's own blows were either blocked or dodged by the unnaturally fast moving Nightbrother, and Savage was free to continue his barrage uninterrupted.

An uppercut from his cybernetic arm was the coup de grace that sent Yulaz sprawling on the floor, stunned.

"Excellent work, Savage." Maul said, as his brother grinned at the compliment. Praise from Darth Maul was rare, and it is something to be remembered.

Stalking over to Yulaz's stirring form, the krogan leader awoke to see the blade of the darksaber pointing at his neck.

"Submit or suffer." Maul growled as Savage ignited one of the ends of his lightsaber and joined his brother by pointing the tip at Yulaz's throat.

Seeing no other choice, Yulaz bowed his head in a gesture of submission.

* * *

"It was supposed to be an easy job." Burke said over the communications link, "deliver the crates to the warehouse, we were told that the Eclipse would be able to handle that."

He gestured to the screen that displayed Captain Enoli

"And yet you failed." He accused, pointing his finger at the asari.

"There were security guards waiting for us at the drop point, and you promised that wouldn't be the case." She replied, "I lost several of my best men, and a good chunk of their equipment, so you better be able to pay for all of that."

"For an unfinished job?" Burke replied angrily.

The task had been simple: smuggle a number of crates to multiple space stations all over the sector. These stations all had some importance to Omega, and Weyland-Yutani had been ordered by the Separatists to deliver their surprises to them, so they could eventually move to Omega itself.

The first 3 deliveries had gone smoothly, but for the final drop, someone had tipped off station security, who had attacked Eclipse as they arrived.

"My benefactors paid the Eclipse, specifically, because we were told that if there was any armed resistance, your men would be able to deal with it, but they send you running?"

"Security was tighter than we were told, and we can't go back again because they'll be waiting for us." Enoli replied.

Burke cursed, "Alright," he said "We'll pay you for the deliveries done," he said, as the payment transferred to the accounts the Eclipse had set up.

"Deliver the remaining crates back to us, and we'll pay you for the rest."

"I don't think so," the captain responded, "we're taking the remaining crates as compensation for the men we lost, and I'm sure the contents will be worth more on the black market than what you're paying us."

She cut the link before Burke could respond.

Enoli sat down in her chair, grimacing. They had been given 20 crates; 4 large ones capable of holding a person inside, and 16 smaller ones, that were split into groups of 4. 5 crates were to be delivered to each space station, but as the Eclipse proceeded with their mission, they realized the crates doubled as stasis containers, holding their cargo in suspended animation.

A few curious soldiers attempted to peek inside, but found that the crates were magnetically sealed with a timed lock, keeping anyone from opening them.

Enoli had ordered that the deliveries would proceed as planned, but when they got to the station in the Arinlarkan system, they found security forces were waiting for them. A firefight had ensued, leaving 5 of her men dead, and several of them injured, having barely escaped into their ship before Enoli ordered a retreat.

Figuring that the contents of the crates were fairly valuable, but desiring payment at the same time, Enoli had contacted Burke to ensure he paid up before ordering a course set for the Eclipse space station hidden in the Fathar system.

Arriving at the old run-down space station, Eclipse guards offloaded the 5 remaining crates, and got their lock-picking specialists to work on them, to see if the locks could be broken.

Unfortunately, they couldn't do break the seal, so Enoli decided to wait it out, seeing as the lock was set to open in a day or so. All in all, not the best mission for Eclipse, though, whatever was in the crates would hopefully make it worthwhile.

* * *

Back at the Weyland-Yutani HQ, shortly after Enoli had disconnected, Burke stood there in shock for a moment, but got over it just as Weyland walked in.

"Well, that's a shame," the android said, "but it's still useful. Those crates are capable of being remotely opened, correct?"

"Of course," Burke replied, "Shall I give the order?"

"Yes," Weyland said, "But wait until they arrive at their base, to increase the number of casualties.

Burke grinned in response.

"We'll make the Eclipse regret having crossed us."

* * *

On the Eclipse space station, Captain Enoli ordered that the crates be moved into secure storage, sealed from any form of theft until they opened the next day.

Because of this, there were no witnesses in the vicinity when the remote activation signal unsealed and opened the crates, revealing 4 xenomorph eggs and a live xenomorph drone, who quickly crawled out of the largest crate and into the vents to search for prey.

A few minutes later, the facehuggers exited the eggs and followed closely behind the drone, ready to impregnate any isolated and unsuspecting being that they came across.

Unlike their brethren, which had been implanted with nanotechnology and forced to work with Separatist forces, these xenomorphs were uncontrolled and feral.

Weyland-Yutani had unleashed them to serve only as area-denial weapons, leaving them feral so that there was no actual evidence that the Company was behind their release (true, it was no secret that Weyland-Yutani had extensive access to xenomorphs, but they were not the only ones).

As the facehuggers spread throughout the station, finding and impregnating isolated guards and soldiers, the drone made its way to the reactor core, dispatching anyone that got in its way.

Crawling to the level underneath the reactor, the drone started setting up a hive, while Enoli and her soldiers made their way to the cargo hold, expecting to see the crates opened and valuable weaponry inside.

What they found instead was 5 empty crates... no wait, not completely empty. The smaller crates each contained a single leathery object that resembled an egg. However all 4 of them were empty, which angered Enoli to no end.

Furious, Enoli ordered a curfew in place for the civilian workers, while the Eclipse forces spread out searching for whatever had been inside the crates.

Locking civilians in their quarters had been intended to keep the Eclipse's sources of income safe, but unfortunately, this allowed the xenomorphs to kidnap them and take them back to the hive, to be used as hosts or nutrients to create more eggs.

* * *

Within 3 days, dozens of drones had been birthed and fully-grown, and the remaining Eclipse soldiers soon found themselves engaged in a guerilla war against a species that knew no fear.

Squad chatter often consisted of panicked screams and horrible screeching. When reinforcements arrived at the source of the signal, the only evidence that those squads existed was splatters of blood all over the walls and the floor.

Attempts by the Eclipse to send a distress signal were futile, as soldiers found the comm operators dead, their workstations destroyed, and the comm tower itself was discovered have its inner workings melted by acid blood.

Attempts to escape also proved to be futile, as the escape pods all had their distress beacons removed; as Eclipse deemed it a waste of money to keep them. Enoli attempted to escape using her ship, but a xenomorph must have secreted itself inside, as the ship spun out of control shortly after exiting the hanger and slowly burnt up in the atmosphere of the nearby planet.

Eventually, as the casualties mounted, the remaining Eclipse soldiers were forced to fall back on mechs, hoping that the mechanical soldiers would be able to flush the creatures out of hiding. However, the programming of LOKI, FENRIS and YMIR mechs was incapable of fighting against an enemy such as this, and the mechs were destroyed one by one.

Salarian and human mercenaries watched the feeds of the mechs in horror, as their last resort weapons were torn to shreds by the razor sharp claws and teeth of the jet black monsters.

One salarian was watching when he felt something warm and wet splatter on his shoulder. Inspecting the substance, he realized it was drool when a sharp pain in his chest interrupted his thoughts. Staring down, he saw a long jet black tail sticking out of chest, before it retracted, pulling him into the vents with it.

Several hours later, it was over. The Eclipse outpost had been completely overrun by the alien monsters, leaving the station to float lifelessly through the void.

* * *

Events were not faring much better on any of the other stations, as the xenomorphs overran each supply port, the residents were growing desperate.

The station in the Arinlarkan system would be the only one to receive aid during this outbreak, as a cloaked ship docked with the side of the station and cut a hole through the hull. If anyone in the hallway had still been alive, they would have witnessed three cloaked humanoid figures step through the hole.

The 3 soon decloaked revealing themselves to be members of the Predator race. O'rika, the leader of the three brothers, consulted his holomap and found that most of the serpents were in the central area of the station.

Unsheathing their wrist blades in anticipation, the Yautja hunters ran down the corridor, blood boiling in preparation for a worthy hunt.

A scream drew O'rika's attention, diverting his and his brothers path to a nearby medical center. Kicking the door down, O'rika took aim at a turian-birthed serpent standing on an operating table. Hissing, the creature leapt towards him, before a plasma bolt sent it flying in the opposite direction.

This drew the attention of several xenomorphs, who crawled into the room through the vents. However they were quickly cut down by the 3 Predators. Eventually, the tide of xenomorphs stopped and the Yuatja quickly located the source of the scream they had heard:

It had come from underneath a doctor's desk, as a terrified Rodian had screamed and then shot and killed a xenomorph. In panic, he shot a blaster bolt at O'rika, who's armor absorbed the impact.

Ripping the gun from his hands, O'rika bent down so that his face was at eye level with the Rodian. Using his translator, O'rika explained that they were here to help, but the Rodian kept muttering one thing.

"Soldiers in white... took one of those things! They brought them here and left us to die!" The Rodian chanted over and over.

The 3 Predators looked at each other as their minds worked: clearly someone had been here before them and taken a xenomorph. But why and who?

The obvious culprit was the Weyland-Yutani Corporation; their soldiers and combat androids were primarily given white battle armor, and they were known to have an obsessive nature when it comes to xenomorphs. But they already have a monopoly on xenomorph bioweapons, so why would they need to kidnap one, when they already have hundreds if not thousands?

Besides, Wey-Yu xenomorphs have Separatist nanotechnology implanted in their skulls so they would see Separatist IFFs as friendly warriors, and also so they could be given specific instructions.

A quick scan from O'rika's bio-mask revealed that these serpents were unmodified; they were uncontrolled and feral. So who would do something like this?

Shrugging off these thoughts, O'rika called one of the Yuatja aboard their vessel and requested that he escort this Rodian aboard until everything was sorted. Then he and his 2 brothers resumed their hunt in the darkened utility hallways in the facility.

* * *

On the other side of the station, a Delta-class stormtrooper transport had docked at one of the still functioning airlocks, dispensing two squads of Stormtroopers from the 501st Legion. These brave men and women set out to find out the source of this infestation, and hopefully stop it in its tracks.

While the squads split up and fought their way through the bowels of this supply facility, a squad of spacetroopers arrived on the exterior of the station; targeting any xenomorph who had escaped onto the surface and tried to breach their way into the troop transport.

If the hull had been clear of xenomorphs, the spacetroopers would likely have noticed another ship detaching from the station and leaving the system.

* * *

In the bowels of the station, Sidon Valen was fleeing for his life from the monstrosities behind him. As a turian, he had been taught to stand and fight against whatever the opponent threw at you. Never let your enemies see you run, and set traps as you fall back.

Whoever had pioneered those strategies had never encountered these nightmares.

Sidon kept running through the bowels of the station when he tripped over something long and thin. Getting his bearings, he realized it was a xenomorph tail; a salarian-born bug to be precise, if the two cranial horns sprouting from it's elongated head were any indication.

Frozen in terror, Sidon could only watch as the creature raised its tail in order to plunge it into his chest. There was a loud whine and a bolt of red energy slammed into the xenomorph, cauterizing the wound and preventing it's acidic blood from spilling.

Sidon looked behind him to see a squad of Imperial stormtroopers unleashing a volley of blaster fire into the salarian bug, then focusing their fire on any other xenomorphs drawn to the noise.

Once the xenomorphs were all dead, the stormtroopers came up to him. Worried they might shoot him, Sidon realized his fears were unfounded when the lead stormtrooper offered his hand, and helped him up.

"I am Su-mil, what is your name?" The white-armored soldier asked him.

"Sidon Valen." The turian shakily replied. "We'll get you out of here, Sidon, I promise you." Su-mil said assuredly.

The sound of plasma fire drew the attention of the stormtroopers, forcing them to take Sidon as they made their way towards the racket, expecting to have to rescue more survivors.

What they found instead was a large amount of dead xenomorphs, and lots of holes from where their blood had melted through every nearby surface. Sidon and the stormtroopers were surprised to see 3 individuals holding off a horde of xenomorphs with nothing but bolts of plasma, blades and their own hands.

Sidon recognized the 3 aliens as members of the Yautja species; better known as the Predators, they had a tendency to hunt down armed and deadly sentient life for sport, and xenomorphs were known to be some of their favorite prey.

Just as Sidon was wondering if they had been responsible for the xenomorph outbreak, the Predators finished slaughtering all the xenomorphs in the vicinity. Hearing the sound of blasters being pointed at them, the Predators spun toward the source of the noise, targeting lasers pointing at the stormtroopers and Sidon.

An old human phrase summed up Sidon's feelings towards these circumstances:

"Out of the frying pan, into the fire."


	5. Eclipse and a new rival

There was a tense standoff between the 3 Predators and the 6 Stormtroopers, as both sides kept their weapons leveled at each other. Sidon was fully expecting violence to break out between the two groups, given the professional nature of Imperial stormtroopers and the Yautja's proclivity towards bloodshed. So the what happened next shocked him beyond all measure:

After a moment, both sides lowered their weapons, and Su-mil and the Alpha Predator approached each other, in what initially appeared to be a cautious peace offering that quickly turned into a friendly conversation between the two.

After days of fighting and hiding from an army of nightmares, seeing this rather surreal display caused the turian's mind to overload. Sidon fainted, blacking out before he hit the ground.

* * *

O'rika and his brothers had participated in the tense standoff with the stormtroopers while each group was under the impression that they had been the ones to unleash the xenomorphs on the station, given the recovered survivor's ramblings and the reputations of the Yautja respectively. However a good hunter or soldier confirms whether a being is friend or foe before striking, and thankfully O'rika and Su-mil were both.

Scanning the stormtroopers in front of him, O'rika quickly realized that these troops were members of the Empire of the Hand and therefore, were allies of the Republic. The squad leader, Su-mil must have made a similar scan and detected the Republic IFF signatures coming off the Yautja.

Deactivating their weapons, the leaders of the two groups slowly walked towards each other, before shaking hands.

"Glad to have help from the hunters on Safari." Su-mil joked.

"Better than being guided by the boys in white." O'rika retorted. A loud crash interrupted their conversation as they turned to see the turian who had followed the stormtroopers collapsing on the deck. Two troopers determined he needed medical attention and called the second squad to pick them up.

Meanwhile, the Predators and Su-mil's squad banded together to clear out the xenomorph horde infesting the station. Fighting their way through wave after wave of the deadly creatures, the allied forces slowly made their way to the heart of the infestation.

"So what's the Empire of the Hand doing in the Terminus Systems?" O'rika asked as he pulled his wrist blades out of a xenomorph skull.

"Word among the infantry is that Darth Maul is hiding in this region of space." Su-mil replied as he unleashed a volley of blasterfire at a horde of nearby aliens, "Rumor has it that Grand Admiral Thrawn personally ordered our forces into these territories to find him."

"Wouldn't that risk an interdimensional incident?" One of O'rika's brothers asked, as a plasma bolt of his caught an asari bug in the chest.

"Officially the Empire of the Hand is its own independent state," Su-mil's second in command said, as his well-aimed blaster bolt took a krogan xeno in the mouth, "And if the warlords of this region think that the Terminus Systems are a hellhole, they wouldn't last a day in the Unknown Regions."

Soon the group came across the reactor, where the xenomorphs had created their hive. The black chitinous resin covered most of the surrounding room and part of the reactor. Swarms of the monstrosities crawled up and down the Hive. Su-mil turned to the Yautja behind him.

"I hope you have a plan on dealing with these this things..." A Predator held up his wrist gauntlet in response, displaying the screen for the self-destruct device, "Besides blowing up the station."

O'rika chuckled, "Then we'll do it the old-fashioned way." He growled before leaping into the horde of xenomorphs gathered below. "Out of the frying pan..." One stormtrooper muttered before the rest of them followed the Yautja into hell.

Fortunately, the Hive was currently lacking a Queen and the total population of the station was a little less than 200 people, most of whom had already been killed.

It took them a while, but the allies finally managed to kill all the aliens on board and evacuate the survivors. As they were preparing to leave, O'rika turned to Su-mil and asked him something that had been bothering him.

"So, you're here to help, but why did you need to capture a live xenomorph?" At this question, the squad looked at each other, in obvious confusion. "What are you talking about?" Su-mil asked.

"We picked up a survivor who kept saying that white-armored soldiers captured one of these xenomorphs and left everyone to die." The squad looked at each other, before one of the stormtroopers in the back responded.

"It wasn't us."

"Can we talk to this survivor?"

O'rika nodded and directed the squad back to the Yautja ship. When they arrived, they found the Rodian huddled in the fetal position, surrounded by dozens of skulls and pelts mounted on the wall. "I'm sure this will be good for his mental health." One of the stormtroopers deadpanned sarcastically.

"It was either that, or let the serpents have him." The Predator huntmaster in charge of the ship replied.

The medic in the squad gave the Rodian a calming substance and when he was lucid enough to speak, Su-mil kneeled down in front of him.

"What's your name?"

"Grielo Farr," the Rodian replied.

"We won't hurt you Grielo," Su-mil whispered softly, "but we need to ask you some questions. These soldiers you saw, were they stormtroopers?"

Grielo shook his head. O'rika activated his wrist computer and keyed up a hologram of several Weyland-Yutani soldiers in full armor, asking if the people he saw resembled them, but again, Grielo shook his head in the negative.

"Who else wears white armor and would be after the serpents?" One of the Predators asked. Su-mil took out his datapad and activated an extranet search, for any factions that wore a predominantly white BDU. After skimming through a dozen different factions, Grielo finally pointed out a match with certainty. As the Predators and stormtroopers looked over the suspects, they felt a sense of worry and anticipation flicker through them. O'rika broke the silence;

"This could be... interesting."

* * *

Planet Illium

Jona Sederis sat in her office in a warehouse at the spaceport docks in Nos Astra, reading a report with increasing displeasure. The Eclipse had lost contact with one of their space stations in the Terminus systems; no communications were made and no ships had reported leaving.

Annoyed at Enoli's silence, Sederis sent a scout ship to the station and got a report about jet-black monstrosities covering the station. After losing two scout ships, Sederis had to write the site off as a loss, and focused on other matters. That was when a transmission came in from Darth Maul, the leader of the Shadow Collective.

He had requested an audience with her to discuss an alliance, but from what she had heard about the Blue Suns and the Blood Pack, the discussion wouldn't be very civilized. Still, she wanted to show this Sith Lord that she was not a woman to be trifled with, as her second-in-command Sayn had found out after the Reaper War. She had been tempted to kill him, but he had done a decent job of running Eclipse while she was in prison. Besides, he wouldn't dare betray her again while she was still alive, that toady was too much of a coward to do so.

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer." She thought remembering an old human proverb. From this idea, she agreed to a meeting with Maul, where she planned to ambush and kill him and any forces he brought with him.

As fearsome as he was, he had never encountered an asari commando unit before, and would be bested with ease.

Right on cue, an alarm chimed, showing that the Sith Lord and his brother had arrived at the warehouse. He hadn't come alone; bringing several Death Watch soldiers with him, not that it would matter.

Sederis watched the security cameras as the video displayed a platoon of Eclipse soldiers surrounded Maul's forces. The Eclipse forces were calling for their surrender, but the Shadow Collective refused, raising their weapons. Sederis chuckled, anticipating the enjoyment of the resulting slaughter.

* * *

Doctor Liara T'Soni sat in her office, on a space station just outside the borders of Republic Space. She sighed, mulling over the reports from her intelligence gathering operatives. As the Shadow Broker, Liara managed one of the largest intelligence forces within IDA space, with a vast network of agents and resources at her command.

This network had taken some hits over the years, first from the Reaper War and then the Great Flood War, which cost the multiverse a lot of good people and left her short of agents. It took a lot of time and support, but she had eventually done it with the Republic's help, and she offered to return the favor by serving as an extra warning system in IDA space.

Recently, her network had a lot of work, some of it fairly straightforward (it was obvious that Weyland-Yutani was releasing Xenomorphs for the Separatists to attack isolated stations in the multiverse) while other details were not (she still couldn't figure out why, and Republic Intelligence had taken over that job).

But now, she had gotten an unusual request from the Republic's ally of the Empire of the Hand. Admiral Voss Parck had requested information on a long dissolved terrorist organization, who had apparently resurfaced and stolen some Xenomorphs from the attack sites. She didn't want to believe that they had survived, but a report from her agents in Systems Alliance space revealed details about a prison break, perpetrated by white-armored soldiers to spring one General Oleg Petrovsky.

Cerberus had resurfaced.

That was odd enough, but what was odder still was the fact that Liara was having difficulty tracking their movements. Granted, they had slipped under the radar in their destruction and originally had an intelligence network on par with the Shadow Broker, but they shouldn't even have funding anymore... unless someone else was supporting them.

Republic Intelligence confirmed that the Separatists were not responsible for supporting Cerberus and their weren't many other organizations with the will, desire or the means to support this terrorist organization.

Well, except one.

But Liara was going to need to do a lot of digging in order to find evidence if they were responsible.

* * *

Sederis couldn't believe the events unfolding before her; Maul's forces were carving a path through the warehouse, and the fighting was starting to spill out into the wider spaceport. The Eclipse Sisterhood were fighting as hard as they could, but their biotic attacks could barely scratch Mandalorian armor. Nos Astra law enforcement had cordoned off the area and were engaged in armed combat with Eclipse forces, who were driven towards the police by the Shadow Collective.

Throughout the spaceport, Zann Consortium ships were touching down and unloading platoons of soldiers, threatening to turn the city into a warzone. Meanwhile, inside the warehouse, Sederis was watching a feed depicting a Mandalorian warrior taking down a Mantis gunship, when the door to her office exploded. The Sith Lord and his brother strode onto the foyer, lightsabers in hand.

Sederis gestured to the brothers, and yelled "Kill those assholes!" to the Eclipse guards within the office. Savage roared and charged into the guards, slaughtering them with ease. Meanwhile, Maul was locked in combat with Sederis, who immediately hurled a warp missile at the Sith Lord, but the unnaturally fast Zabrak dodged it with practiced skill. Sederis then biotically charged into Maul, sending him flying into the wall. For a normal being, this would have shattered their spine, but Maul called upon the Force to soften the blow.

Momentarily dazed from the pain, Maul allowed the agony to fuel his connection to the dark side of the Force. Letting the dark side guide his movements, Maul avoided every biotic attack with ease, before closing in and unleashing brutal hand to hand combat against the asari.

Sederis' centuries of experience enabled her to briefly hold her own against Maul, but the ruthless Sith Lord wore her down, exhausting her from the extensive biotic use and the brutal pummeling.

As Sederis began gathering dark energy for a final attack, Maul unleashed forks of lightning from his fingertips, before hurling the electrocuted asari into the wall. Battered and broken, Sederis fell to the ground on her hands and knees as the Sith Lord slowly approached her.

"I gave you a chance to join us." Maul said, sadistically grinning at Sederis' discomfort.

"Go fuck yourself." The psychotic asari defiantly yelled. In response, Maul drew the Darksaber, and sent the black energy blade through Sederis' neck, decapitating her. Beckoning to the Salarian hiding in the corner, Maul gestured for Sayn to come forward.

"You're her second in command." It was a statement, not a question.

"Y-Yes." Sayn stuttered. "You're going to honor your agreement with Aria T'Loak: Eclipse will once again serve under her command. Is that understood?" Maul asked. When Sayn nodded, Maul smiled and called Aria to report that Eclipse was under their control, but the Pirate Queen of Omega wasn't in a good mood and as soon as Maul heard what had happened in the Terminus Systems, he understood why.

"You're certain of this?"

"I'm positive. 3 of my supply stations have been overrun by xenomorphs and I'm betting that the Separatists are behind this outbreak." Aria snarled.

"Don't be so sure," Maul countered, "The Separatists are hardly the only organization who have access to that race."

"But they're the only ones who would be willing to lauch a multi-pronged attack with them." She countered.

Maul pondered that for a moment before answering. "You may be correct," he conceded, agreeing with her assessment, "but we can't afford to go to war with them, at least not at this moment."

Before Aria could reply, she was interrupted by a salarian advisor who handed her a datapad. Aria poured over the contents for a moment, and Maul watched her face slowly contort with rage as she kept on reading. A moment later, Aria hurled the datapad into the wall with a frustrated roar.

Maul waited until Aria calmed down before she spoke again. "News reports have indicated the revival of Cerberus, being led by one General Oleg Petrovsky." At the mention of Petrovsky's name, Aria's fists clenched and her biotics flared. "And it seems they've gotten their hands on xenomorph specimens."

"Well, that could complicate matters." Savage said.

"We'll head back to Omega immediately," Maul said, "I would recommend that you prepare the defenses in case Cerberus tries to force another takeover of the station."

As Aria disconnected, the two brothers couldn't help but wonder how Cerberus had returned and how they were getting the funding and support they would need to once again be a credible threat. This was a mystery that they would have to solve, before grinding the human-supremacist organization into dust.

The Shadow Collective left the planet, as most of their forces departed for Omega.

* * *

Weyland-Yutani HQ

"Well, this is unexpected." Weyland said as he looked over the report from the Terminus Systems. Cerberus had managed to capture some of the Xenomorphs that they had unleashed into those crime-infested territories.

"What should we do?" Burke asked his superior, turning from his desk to look at the android. Weyland paused for a moment, before answering his subordinate.

"Mantain our current operations for now, but also start preparing our evacuation procedures." The Weyland-Yutani evacuation procedures only mattered to the few unessential Company assets and facilities still in IDA territory as most of the important locations, assets and personnel had been transferred into Separatist territory years ago.

If Cerberus chose to release the xenomorphs on any IDA locations, the public outcry would immediately target the Company, given their known usage of the parasitical organism, and their involvement with the Separatists. Weyland-Yutani was barely tolerated outside of Separatist space, and any more bad press could leave people howling for blood.

"I'll contact Michael Weyland and the rest of the Separatist High Command to inform them of what has happened." Weyland finished before leaving the room, allowing the personnel in the control room the freedom to do their jobs.

On the way to his office, one comforting thought entered the android's mind; 'Cerberus is playing with fire. They don't know what they're dealing with.'

* * *

Cerberus cruiser Elbrus

General Oleg Petrovsky stood in front of the Quantum Entanglement Communicator within the conference room of the warship's bridge, nervously awaiting the incoming call from his benefactor.

He had secretly been made aware of Cerberus' revival during his time in Alliance custody, and had been offered a chance to return to the organization. Given a choice between that or prison, the choice was obvious. He had been liberated by a Cerberus strike team, and had his old rank restored. But despite all of that, Petrovsky was unaware of who was currently leading Cerberus.

Though that would certainly change in a moment, as the Cerberus leader was due to contact the General for a status report on these new xenomorph specimens recovered from the Terminus Systems.

Right on cue, the QEC sounded an alert and a holographic image appeared on the pad. And it displayed the image of a dead man. A middle-aged man with grey hair, somewhere between his 60s and 70s. He was wearing a custom tailored suit and was currently smoking a cigarette.

If Petrovsky had any doubts as to the man's identity, they were banished by looking into his eyes: unnatural glowing blue irises that created an aura of mystery around them.

"General Petrovsky." The Illusive Man said. "It's good to see you again."


	6. New friends

Cronos Station II, location unknown.

In the bare office overlooking a swirling nebula, the sole occupant of the room was currently receiving a report from the newly freed and reappointed General Oleg Petrovsky, who was stammering slightly.

"Sir, I'm just surprised that you're still alive. Every conclusive report after the Reaper War indicated that you had been-"

"The reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated." Said the Illusive Man, who took a sip from his drink before continuing, "I must say that I am intrigued about the changing nature of society since I've been gone." He said, looking over the news and information on the different factions that made up the multiverse.

The fact that several different universes had been discovered, and all of them had contained humans in some form... well the Illusive Man felt vindicated in his beliefs, especially after learning that most of them had some level of power and influence in their universes.

"Whether they are aware of it or not, humanity still needs Cerberus and we will continue to strive towards human dominance, only now in the multiverse." The Illusive Man finished his speech.

"Of course, sir." Petrovsky said. "How shall we proceed now that we have captured xenomorphs?"

It was a fair question. Even with their rebuilt technological capabilities and their new specimens, Cerberus was still leagues behind the larger factions in the multiverse (which wasn't even counting the Republic, the Separatists or the Flood).

A good target would be the Citadel Council: the Council still refused to acknowledge the supremacy of humanity, even in spite of the overwhelming power of groups such as the UNSC and the Galactic Alliance. Unleashing a horde of these creatures on the Citadel would likely render the entire construct uninhabitable.

Of course, Cerberus still had to ensure that the xenomorphs could be controlled by them, and the Illusive Man ordered the specimens to be taken to several science bases, in order to study them.

With that in mind, the conversation turned to the topic of getting back through the Omega 4 relay and salvaging what remained of the Collector Base. As Petrovsky and the Illusive Man began planning for their inevitable return, they both looked forwards to the day that human supremacy was established.

* * *

Imperial-class Star Destroyer _Scimitar_

Darth Maul stood in front of the briefing table, looking at the holodisplay of IDA territory. Mapped in blue were areas that were controlled by the Shadow Collective, including important shipyards, military bases and areas of criminal influence.

On the right side of the hologram, a wall of text was displayed, showing the Collective's finances and revenue. Which was steadily rising. Maul had little use for money himself, but it was enough motivation to keep his forces in line.

Besides, he would have another use for it as soon as he arrived back on Omega.

Sensing his arrival at the station, Maul turned his attention to the main viewport of his flagship. An old Imperial II-class Star Destroyer, the Shadow Collective had liberated it from an old decommisioning yard before it could be melted into scrap metal. Having been upgraded with some of the best (and highly illegal) equipment the Collective could attain on the black market, Maul had selected the upgraded warship to be his flagship, and chose to rechristen it after his old Sith Infiltrator.

Despite their alliance, Maul couldn't help but grin at the panicked state of Omega's warships when the _Scimitar _emerged from FTL. The brief spike of fear from the captains could be felt through the Force, but he paid it no mind.

Thinking back, Maul knew that he had a use for some of his money on the station... provided that he would show up. Stretching out with the Force, Maul concentrated and found the presence of his contact on the station.

As soon as his fighter reached one of Omega's many docking bays, Maul, Savage and 2 Death Watch Soldiers made their way to one of the many seedy clubs on Omega.

* * *

Kat stood at the bar, chatting with her quarian boyfriend Zekk as he sat on his usual stool by the bar. Of course, the quarians had taken back Rannoch and were living peacefully with the geth, but Zekk didn't have enough money to go back.

"Besides, all I need is right here," he thought as his girlfriend flashed him one of her gorgeous smiles.

She was wearing the same angel necklace he had first given to her when they started dating. He remembered that first night in her bedroom, he had been sick for a month afterwards, but it had been worth it.

All of a sudden a large row from the entrance to the club grabbed their attention. It turned out to just be a standard scuffle on Omega, but it was distracting enough that Kat didn't notice the Duros male, until he was sitting at one of the stools and calling for a drink.

This Duros was unusually dressed, wearing a scruffy-looking jacket, wrist gauntlets, cybernetic breathing tubes attached to his cheeks and a large brimmed hat. He was chewing on a toothpick and then he threw it away, ordering pure water.

Zekk discreetly watched the man drink up with a cautious intrigue. A normal customer would not come to a bar on Omega and order anything other than alcohol... not unless there was more to this guy than the eye could see.

Given the look of this guy, he was probably a bounty hunter and given his posture and drink, was likely waiting for someone. Catching Kat's eye, he could tell she was thinking the same thing he was; almost imperceptibly she nodded her agreement in coming to the same conclusion.

"Kids, you don't want to get mixed up in this business," the bounty hunter said to them.

He had noticed their slight movements which most people wouldn't pick up on. But Cad Bane was not most people. As the bounty hunter drank his water, the Duros turned his attention away from the couple at the bar, and towards the rest of the seedy club.

The more Bane stuck around here, the more he realized that half the station wouldn't look out of place in the underlevels of Coruscant. Frankly, he was right at home here with dozens of armed criminals drinking and gambling around him.

However, one group of thugs sat at several of the tables, pretending to gamble, but at the same time, clearly watching the door. They were waiting for someone to show up, and Cad Bane had a sneaking suspicion as to who it might be.

'Amateurs.' Bane thought, turning back to the bar and ordering more water while he waited for the gang's targets to show up. He didn't have to wait for very long; 2 minutes later, the Sith Lord and the Nightbrother entered through the doorway to the club.

Just before the 4 of them entered, Maul and Savage sensed that an ambush was being prepared for them. Gesturing for his two bodyguards to not intervene, the brothers entered the bar alone.

"Freeze!" A male Klatoonian shouted, as 30 people of various species rose from their tables and pointed their weapons at the Sith Lord and the Nightbrother. "There's quite a large price on your heads, and we're going to cash it in."

Maul and Savage looked at each other, and smiled; they could really use a work out. The _snap-hiss _of igniting lighsabers broke through the tense silence, as 3 blood red energy blades sprang to life.

"Take 'em out!" The leader shouted.

Everything erupted into chaos. The gang of thugs opened fire on the Sith Lords with blaster and mass accelerator fire. The former was reflected back towards their firers, while the latter were simply vaporized by the glowing red energy blades. Soon the club was just a light show of weapons fire and flashing lightsabers and not just from the gang or the brothers; recognizing and relishing a good fight, the patrons of the club started shooting at any target they could find. In their inebriated state, quite a few failed to realize who they were shooting at, and were rewarded for their intoxication with losses of limbs... or worse.

As Savage twirled his twin energy blades through 4 beings, a curious event happened to catch his eye amidst all the chaos; whereas most of the patrons were now firing on anything that moved, the bartenders were hiding behind the counter. This wasn't surprising, considering they ran the establishment, but what was interesting was the fact that one of the bartenders, a young female human with red hair and a lip ring, grabbed a young Quarian male who had been sitting at the counter and dragged him behind the countertop with her.

An interesting event, given Omega's ruthless nature, but Savage quickly put it out of his mind as the dark side of the Force flowed through his body, guiding his actions. In less than three minutes, the 30 thugs who had attacked the two Sith Lords had been reduced to one survivor, who was currently missing his left arm. As for the remaining patrons, half of them were now lying on the floor in various states of dismemberment, and the remaining survivors were smart enough to leave the angry Zabraks alone.

Deactivating their lightsabers, Maul and Savage turned to the entrance as several Death Watch bodyguards filed into the club. As the captain asked if his leaders were alright, the last thug leapt to his feet and grabbed a blaster, pointing it at the Shadow Collective leaders. Maul turned to regard this threat, but before the thug could do anything, a different blaster shot rang out; sounding like a cross between a high-pitched whine and a scream, the thug fell forward with a smoking hole in his back, as a Duros male stepped out of the shadows.

He was wearing a wide-brimmed hat, cybernetic breathing tubes and holding a pari of custom LL-30 blaster pistols in each hand. And it was the man Maul had contacted earlier.

Cad Bane.

The bounty hunter holstered his pistols and walked up to the Sith Lord, paying no mind to the Mandalorian blaster rifles pointed in his direction. Savage gestured to the Death Watch soldiers, ordering them to stand down.

"Darth Maul." Bane said, by way of greeting.

"Cad Bane." Maul responded. Before any more pleasantries could be exchanged, Maul's comlink beeped. Taking a brief look at the contents, Maul then turned back to face the Duros.

"Come with me. I believe Aria would like a word with you."

The party soon arrived at Afterlife, and Bane found that it didn't take long to get to Aria's booth when he was with the two leaders of the Shadow Collective. When they arrived, the delegation stood in front of Aria's couch. The asari herself wasn't looking at them, but Bane didn't need the Force to tell that she was pissed about something.

"Lord Maul," she ground out, turning to face them, "The recent developments involving Cerberus require an immediate response. Petrovsky didn't learn his lesson after what happened last time, so I intend to remind him of Omega's number 1 rule."

For his part, Maul just looked slightly amused. "And what would you have me do?" He calmly asked. Aria gestured to a Batarian at her side (Bray, if he remembered correctly), who fearfully walked up to the Sith Lord and handed him a datapad.

"My intelligence has located a Cerberus base within the Arinlarkan system. Your forces could strike a crippling blow against Cerberus activities in the Terminus Systems."

"This intel is reliable?" Savage asked.

"Quite." Aria replied, "And Cerberus has no idea that we know about this place."

"I'll dispatch an assault group immediately." Maul said, "But I sense that's not why you called us all here."

"No, it isn't." The Pirate Queen replied with a threatening smile. "Ignoring the fact that you three have caused a major disruption on my station, I want to know what the hell you have planned with him." She pointed at Bane.

The Sith Lord smiled inwardly. He had expected a reaction like this from her, considering Bane had often been contracted by the Separatists. He could understand Aria's hatred for the Separatists, but she was letting her rage cloud her judgement.

"Lady, if you have a problem with me, then spit it out." Bane interjected, feeling satisfied at the shocked silence from Aria and her entourage. Few people had been flippant to the crime lord and lived.

"My problem," Aria growled, "is with your previous employers, the ones who unleashed xenomorphs on my people!"

"And how exactly does this involve me?" Bane asked.

"I want you to tell me all you can about the capabilities of the Separatists." Aria demanded.

"Do you actually think the Separatist government would allow a bounty hunter access to classified material?" Bane deadpanned.

"Maybe not. Though, quite frankly, I'd like to know who's side you're on." Aria demanded. "Other bounty hunters have their loyalties to specific groups: Boba Fett is the leader of the Mandalorians. Sylux will take any job against the Galactic Federation. Samus Aran is currently working with the Republic full time, while Weavel is serving with the Separatists." She finished.

"Where do your loyalties lie?"

Bane looked at her for a moment before replying.

"To the highest bidder."

The silence hung in the air for a moment, before Maul broke it.

"Are you satisfied, Aria?" He said. Glowering, she nevertheless nodded.

"Well then, if you don't mind I have an assault to order and a bounty to assign." The two Zabraks and the Duros left the booth and walked out of the club, in deep discussion as they crossed the threshold.

"And that's what I want you to do." Maul finished explaining the assignment to the bounty hunter.

"I'm going to need reinforcements for a job like that." Bane demanded, "Oh and quadruple my usual rate." Maul smiled.

"I believe I can accomplish both of those in one move." The Sith Lord responded as Savage pulled out a holoprojector, which depicted a metallic figure on the pad. Bane's face betrayed nothing, but Maul could tell that he was pleased.

"How many?" The bounty hunter asked expectantly.

"20 units should suffice." As much as Bane wanted to haggle, that would be more than enough to cover his payment.

Accepting the deal, the Duros left to attend to the job that Maul had given him, leaving the Sith Lord and the Nightbrother to plan the attack on the nearby Cerberus base. Concluding that a small force would be enough to take the facility, Maul contacted one of his top Mandalorian lieutenants to lead the assault.

* * *

Onboard an Aggressor-class Destroyer, the Death Watch commander, Rook Kast, stood on the bridge overlooking the planet that contained a major Cerberus base. Apparently the facility was one of the terrorist organizations military and science bases.

Crippling it would help drive the human-supremist organization from the Terminus Systems. Kast watched as a fleet of advanced Cerberus cruisers emerged from FTL and took up firing positions on the incoming Shadow Collective fleet.

Despite the array of firepower against them, the Zann Consortium ships tore through the advanced cruisers within moments. Kast grinned as the Aggressor main guns tore a Cerberus dreadnought apart, the spiraling ion bolt disabled it, leaving the drifting hulk as an easy target for the following spiral plasma shot, which shredded through the eezo core, causing the dark energy to erupt in a massive explosion.

The battle ended shortly afterwards, allowing the Collective to deploy to the surface. Kast was leading the assault herself, from her Kom'rk-class fighter, which was currently avoiding flak from the Cerberus AA batteries.

Giving the order, Kast joined the 3 squads of Death Watch troopers as they deployed from the bellies of their ships and used their jetpacks to gain an advantage over the Cerberus forces. Mandalorians always loved to be the first into a fight and Death Watch was no exception.

Cerberus engineers set up turrets in an attempt to slow the offensive, but their targeting systems were meant to engage ground based infantry, not jet pack warriors clad in nigh-indestructable armor. Soon, centurions rallied their forces to target the Mandalorians, just as Kast had hoped.

They were so focused on Death Watch, that most failed to notice the rest of the Shadow Collective dropships were landing. Dozens of Black Sun soldiers and Zann Consortium mercenaries secured the ground and began pushing Cerberus back into their underground base.

Rook Kast led the Shadow Collective forces through the underground Cerberus fortress, unleashing blaster fire on any Cerberus soldier they came across. Weirdly, there weren't as many defending soldiers as there really should have been, and Black Sun forces had reported blood splatters in rooms they visited, but no bodies.

It came to a head, when a report came in from an advance force of Blue Suns mercs.

"Echo 1-actual, status report, now!" Kast ordered. Static emerged from the speaker before a screaming voice came through.

"They're everywhere! We need reinforc-" The man on the other hand screamed, and soon another sound filtered through the din: A very familiar noise that sounded like a cross between hissing and screeching.

Hordes of xenomorphs began crawling out of the vents, straight toward the squad of Shadow Collective soldiers.

"Light em up!" Kast shouted.

The Mandalorian soldiers ran towards the front of the formation and unleashed their flamethrowers at the incoming bugs, felling several and causing the rest to fall back. Kast smiled behind her visor. Like most animals, xenomorphs were afraid of fire, so it would be easy to clear them out.

Just as she thought that, a xenomorph broke through a vent behind the merc phalanx and started tearing into them before they had a chance to react. Panicked blasterfire filled the room, punctuated with screams and the occasional screeching.

'Ok, maybe it won't be that easy.' Kast grimly thought as she turned to regard the threat.

The fighting was fierce, but eventually the Death Watch soldiers were able to rally the rest of the Shadow Collective to push the xenomorphs back to where they had started making their nest. Explosive charges buried the aliens in their nest, leaving most of them buried in rubble.

After finishing off most the xenos, the techs began searching through the computer databanks. The techs were accompanied by squads of soldiers in case they ran into Cerberus stragglers or surviving xenomorphs. It was a Quarian who found the most surprising secret of this base. Kast couldn't hide her surprise as she went to talk to him.

"A cloning lab? Cerberus has a cloning lab?"

"Yes, and I'm guessing this is only one of many." The Quarian, Wekk, replied, when another piece of information drew his attention.

Meanwhile, Rook Kast was lost in thought at the implications of this: it would explain how Cerberus could gain a rather large army so quickly, and combined with the large supply of mechs in the base (which were currently being loaded on Zann Consortium transports), and the xenomorphs, it would leave Cerberus as a force to be reckoned with. The Mandalorian's musings were interrupted when Wekk spoke.

"Uh, ma'am. I think you'll want to see this." Kast looked at the video that was currently playing, and she felt her eyes widen behind her visor.

"Download all the information immediately." Kast ordered, before pointing her blaster at Wekk's helmeted head. "And not a word of this to anyone. Understood?"

The Quarian gulped and nodded, before finishing his work and handing the data to Kast. The Death Watch captain, immediately contacted her superiors, knowing that this information could prove extremely valuable in the right hands.

* * *

ISD _Scimitar_

"This is accurate?" Maul demanded, needing clarification.

"Yes, my lord." Kast had reported her findings to Maul and Savage as soon as she could.

"Very good, Commander Kast. Finish clearing the base and then destroy it. Report back as soon as you're done." The hologram of Rook Kast nodded and disappeared, leaving Maul to ponder over the data that she had sent.

A devious smirk appeared on the Sith Lord's face as he realized how he could use this information to his advantage if it was introduced to the rest of the multiverse. First things first, Aria T'Loak would want to know of this.

And that wasn't even accounting for the massive supply of military hardware that had been recovered from the fortress. Though that brought up the mystery of where Cerberus was getting all this funding and technology.

Darth Maul had his hands in almost every illegitimate source of money in the multiverse, and he would notice if any astronomical sums had been embezzled to help Cerberus. And even then, there were only a few factions with the resources to support the human-supremacist organization; the Republic was an unlikely candidate, as were the Separatists (Kai Leng may be working for them, but the bad publicity wouldn't appeal to the Separatists if it was discovered that they rebuilt Cerberus). The Flood were a possible candidate, but the Gravemind wouldn't have been able to get any funding for them.

The only factions that might be willing to rebuild Cerberus were Imperial Remnant hardliners, or the Office of Naval Intelligence. Maul would have to be patient and wait for Cerberus to expose themselves again, in order to find the true source of these new attacks.

* * *

Cronos Station II

The Illusive Man sat in front of his office window, reading Petrovsky's recent reports from the Terminus Systems. The news was disconcerting to say the least, considering that the facility that had been intended to be the staging area for a direct assault on Omega.

The xenomorphs had been intended to distract Aria's organization, allowing Cerberus vessels to access the Omega 4 relay. However, before they could begin, a criminal war fleet had smashed through the Cerberus forces in orbit and quickly laid siege to the base. Worst still, all indications pointed to the fact that the Shadow Collective was behind the assault.

It would seem that Darth Maul was going to be an obstacle, one that needed to eliminated quickly. The Illusive Man took a puff from his cigarette and sighed; Kai Leng was no longer working for the dominance of humanity, not after his death and whatever the Separatists did to resurrect him.

He needed some help to kill Maul, as none of Cerberus' assassins were fit for the job. His new benefactors might have something, though. Keeping that in mind, the Illusive Man sent a text based message to his mysterious superiors, asking for assistance in this matter.

The reply he got really brightened his day. Now all he had to do was continue his projects, and wait for the eventual news of Darth Maul's death.

* * *

Unknown location

The woman sat in her office, reading the reports from her agents in Cerberus as well as the direct requests from the Illusive Man himself. Sighing, as she read the reports, she couldn't help but wonder if she really should have supported the revival of Cerberus.

Jack Harper had only been back in control for a few months and yet he was already costing money and resources on failed science projects, or wasteful military operations, which was never easy to replace.

However, after months of waiting, Cerberus had finally delivered something useful: the Shadow Collective had struck a military base that was meant to serve as a staging area for an assault on Omega.

It seemed that Cerberus had actually managed to locate the ruthless Sith Lord, which was something the IDA had been struggling with for over a year now. So, when Harper requested help in dispatching the Zabrak, it was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

She had already agreed to his request for assassins, and sent the order to the one team she could trust. Hopefully, that matter would be resolved soon, and Cerberus would soon have fulfilled its usefulness.


	7. Old Enemies

UNSC Prison ship Van Gogh

Captain Murphy sighed for the third time that day. He had been ordered to make a random stop in deep space to pick up a new prisoner, and given the clandestine nature of the orders, it was almost certainly ONI who was behind it. The less he had to deal with those spooks, the better.

A pair of ODSTs walked onto the bridge, bringing this new prisoner with them. He was Duros male, with a scruffy looking coat and cybernetic breathing tubes implanted in his cheeks.

"Ok, who is this and why did you need to bring him to my ship?" The Captain demanded. He knew that crossing ONI wasn't the wisest career move, but he was too old to care.

"He's a person of interest, to be transferred to the Midnight Facility." The ODST's mannerisms were odd; as if a machine was trying to imitate human speech and movement, but failing miserably. Murphy raised his eyebrow.

"Well, I'm going to need to see some identification, and I'll need to contact your superiors to confirm this transfer." The Duros looked at the Captain and spoke for the first time. "I don't think that will be necessary." The Captain didn't like that tone of voice.

"And why would that be?" He asked, hand slowly reaching toward his sidearm. The Duros smiled.

"Because you're all dead." A bullet impacted the Captain's skull as he fell to the deck, amidst the stunned silence of the bridge crew, who were watching as smoke curled from the ODST's gun barrel.

"Kill them all."

The ODSTs turned on the bridge crew and opened fire, quickly killing all the officers before they had a chance to raise the alarm. With that, Bane broke the handcuffs just as the ODSTs took their helmets off, revealing themselves to be BX-series droid commandos. A fairly old droid model, but an effective one, and quite expensive as well.

"Bring the reinforcements in. Eliminate every guard on this ship." The droids nodded, then left to tend to the bridge.

Meanwhile, the rest of the droid commandos emerged from their concealment inside Bane's ship. Boarding the ship, the commando squads made short work of the prison guards and report to their master that the ship is under their control.

"Good, now where are our targets?" Bane asked, as the droids scouring the bridge searched through the datafiles. Eventually they turned to make their report.

"They are in cellblock R, cells 11 and 12."

"Excellent. Contact the fleet and let them know that the ship is helpless." Bane turned to leave the bridge.

"I'll go down and extend the offer to our guests. You four-" Bane pointed to a squad of commandos "come with me."

The hijackers made their way down to the cells, to the jeering of many prisoners who saw an alien and four droids walking past. Eventually the bounty hunter arrived at the cells in question, hearing a pair of voices. The two occupants were locked in the middle of an argument and were completely unaware of what was happening around them.

"-unbelievable! We had everything in the bag, and then those sim troopers completely blindside us thanks to you."

"If you had just killed them when you were supposed to, we wouldn't be in this situation." A deep voice growled angrily.

"Hey, don't pin the blame on me." A softer, yet more insane voice said, "If anything, you're the reason we got caught after Charon fell."

"This bickering gets us nowhere."

"Oh, I don't know, it passes the time." The insane voice replied, "I mean, we get free accomodations, a one way ticket to the Midnight facility, how else am I supposed to brighten my day?"

A loud whine crossed with a screech, interrupted their argument and the two prisoners turned to look at the source, as they realized everyone else in the prison had also gone quiet. Putting his still smoking blaster back in his holster, Bane regarded the two of them.

"Now that I have your attention, we can focus on a more pressing matter." The two convicts were silent for a moment, before the sociopath spoke again.

"I'm sorry, who the fuck are you supposed to be?" Bane just smiled.

"Your liberator, or your executioner." Bane threatened, "It all depends on you." Suddenly the ship violently shook, "-or them."

The sound of energy cutting through metal echoed through the din as a red energy blade carved a hole through a nearby wall. A dozen red-armored Mandalorians entered first followed by Darth Maul and Savage Opress. The two brothers came to a stop right next to Cad Bane, before the red tattooed Zabrak addressed the prisoners.

"I can release you from this prison... for a certain price." The sociopath chuckled and muttered 'there's always a price.' His neighbour glared at him for a moment before turning back to the Sith Lord.

"What do you want from us?" The deep voice asked, to which Maul smiled.

"Your loyalty to me." The two mercs looked at each other and shrugged.

"Beats being locked up." The sociopath said. Maul smiled as he opened the cell doors, while Savage threw a crate to each cell. "I believe these belong to you."

Cautiously, the two ex-convicts opened the crates, only to find their armor. Resembling MJOLNIR armor, but heavily watered down, both were painted grey, but one suit had orange highlights and a Scout helmet, while the other suit had green highlights and a Locus helmet.

* * *

ISD Scimitar

Maul stood in front of the viewports, watching as his flagship demolished the Van Gogh with a few well-placed shots. Turning back to the bridge, Maul ordered them to set a course to Omega, then left as the ship leapt into FTL. The Sith Lord entered the meeting room, where Savage was keeping tabs on Cad Bane and the two newest members of the Shadow Collective.

The two mercenaries were Locus and Felix, who had gained an impressive reputation after the Covenant war and Charon Industries' war on the inhabitants of the planet Chorus. However, the two mercs were reportedly defeated by ex-Freelancer agent Carolina, though rumors insisted that they were beaten by a group of simulation troopers.

To make matters even worse for them, Charon Industries had also been shut down during the Chorus conflict, with much of their advanced technology falling into the hands of the Separatists. Meanwhile, Locus and Felix had been sentenced to life imprisonment for attempted genocide, while the former CEO of Charon, Malcolm Hargrove, was executed for various crimes against the UNSC.

However, Maul had noticed their talents and determined that the two ex-soldiers could prove useful in his army once they were properly motivated. He had agreed to pay them for their services, but first he wanted to see what they could do.

He would figure out a task for them soon enough, after they arrived at Omega and Cad Bane had departed. But as soon as they dropped out of hyperspace, Savage stiffened and growled as he walked towards the viewport.

"Savage? What is troubling you?"

"She is here, brother. I can sense her on Omega." The Nightbrother snarled, glaring at the station. Curious, Maul stretched out through the Force, and found what his brother was sensing. Opening his eyes, Maul looked at Savage and smiled.

"She is at Afterlife, and she is unaware of our presence. I'll get some of our forces to keep her there." He put a hand on his brother's shoulder, "Be patient, my brother. You will have your revenge."

As Savage headed towards the hanger, Maul gestured to a confused Locus and Felix to follow them. Meanwhile, Bane headed straight for his ship and took off with his payment. He didn't know what the two brothers were talking about, but he had no intention of being caught in a conflict between Force-users.

* * *

Asajj Ventress sat down at the bar in Afterlife, enjoying a drink. Ever since the Clone Wars all those decades ago, she had been running, hiding and just flat out wandering through space as she struggled to find meaning for herself. After all that happened with the multiverse, and the benefits of an increased lifespan, she found that this struggle only increased with time.

She had become increasingly detached from the going-ons of the multiverse at large, the only exception being the Great Flood War, but then again, no one could escape from that onslaught. Looking around at the clientele, Ventress knew that all of them still bore some level of scarring from that conflict, as did many in the IDA.

Then again, so did she. She had gone through the challenges of Dark Jedi and Sith training, which would drive most beings to madness, but the parasite was something else entirely; a nightmarish entity that would leave even Darth Sidious screaming for mercy.

And then the Flood had actually managed to corrupt _the Force _itself! It had since returned to normal after the Gravemind's destruction, but before that... they had all felt it. Every Force-sensitive in the galaxy had felt the hunger of the Flood. The ravenous instinct that only wished to consume everything. It was repulsive enough to make even the Sith sick.

She shuddered and shook herself out of that memory; it was no use dwelling on that, so she might as well just focus on something else and try to enjoy herself.

However, she soon became aware of Black Sun and Zann Consortium soldiers surrounding her. Finishing off her drink, she got up to leave and was unsurprised to find her way blocked by the soldiers. As she was planning her next move, her danger sense spiked as she felt a presence that she hadn't felt in a long time, and she knew that she had to leave, now!

Ventress engaged the soldiers blocking the door in hand to hand combat, in a spectacle that drew the attention of many people in the club. Soon, dozens of patrons were leaving through the back entrance as blasterfire filled the air. During her little rampage, the Nightsister was careful to avoid anything that might give away her true nature.

"That's enough! All of you!" The voice of Aria T'Loak yelled from the din, causing everyone to halt. Afterlife grew deathly quiet as a dozen of her own men and women filed into the club, weapons pointed at the Black Sun and Consortium soldiers, and more than a few pointed at her.

"Now, I don't know what the hell your deal is, and frankly, I don't care. You don't get to order people around on my station! And you." She pointed at Ventress, who narrowed her eyes. "You don't start a fight in my club. Now, we're going to have a little discussion about that-"

Ventress was no longer listening. The overwhelming sense of danger had become even more powerful. He was close. "I'll pass." She said, interrupting Aria's speech before unleashing a Force repulse that sent everyone flying. Her path to the main exit was now clear.

Rushing to the doorway, it opened before she got there and she found herself in front of Savage Opress. The brute had his lightsaber hilt in his mechanical hand, which ignited with the customary _snap-hiss _as two red blades sprung to life.

"Ventress. I was hoping to find you here."

"How have you been, Savage?" Ventress asked as her own lightsabers ignited, "Has my former servant finally been house trained?"

That insult caused Savage to lunge at the Nightsister, who avoided the swing and the second blade. The two of them dueled back and forth through the multiple levels of Afterlife, as the patrons ran screaming from the twirling crimson blades. After parrying several blows, Ventress was hurled back by Savage's strength. Grabbing a pole, Ventress swung around it, using her momentum to propel a double kick into the Nightbrother's face. As she raised her sabers to deliver the killing blow, a powerful Force push sent her flying into the wall. Getting back on her feet, she had just enough time to avoid being decapitated by Darth Maul's blade.

Ventress performed a series of backflips to put some distance between her and Maul. She landed in a defensive posture across the room, facing Maul and Savage who both had their lightsabers active. She needed an escape plan, as she was no match for the two of them.

Thankfully, Ventress had learned much during her time as a bounty hunter, including the value of carrying grenades at all times. Pulling out several, she hurled the explosive ones alongside a couple of smoke grenades at the brothers, who Force-pushed them away.

That was just what she needed as she tossed a pair of flashbangs while they were distracted, disorienting the two brothers for a moment. The effect wouldn't last long, but it was enough time to allow Ventress to make her exit.

Choosing a vent that led to the lower levels of the club, the Nightsister hurled herself into it, knowing that neither of her opponents would be able to fit through the small space she had chosen to make her escape in.

Savage and Maul roared in anger. That witch would not escape, not again. Activating his comlink, Maul sent an order to his forces in the system.

"All units, lock down Omega's ports. No ship leaves the station until further notice."

Meanwhile, Ventress had landed in the lower levels of Omega, and started making her way towards her ship. She knew that the ports could be easily locked down, which was why she had not landed at any of them, instead choosing to dock at one of Omega's unguarded airlocks. Her choice had been much more dangerous due to its disuse, but she didn't want to risk something like this happening.

Now all she had to do was sneak her way through the city and get off the station while avoiding the countless patrols that hounded her every move. Mandalorian warriors flew over the rooftops, trying to get a bead on the escaping Dathomiri witch, but thankfully, the rest of the Shadow Collective forces were bogged down by the Talons and Aria's people, who weren't happy with the way they were trampling over their authority.

Soon, the Nightsister had arrived at a large exposed bridge over a massive chasm into Omega's vorcha infested slums. It wasn't the most ideal route, but it was the only entrance to the disused airlock. Ventress was halfway across the bridge when she felt a presence near her ship, followed by a muffled explosion.

Someone had found her escape plan and had now had her trapped. Sure enough, a gray and green armored figure materialized in thin air at the mouth of the bridge, aiming a sniper rifle at her. He was joined by another figure, this time clad in gray and orange armor, and though she couldn't see it, he could sense the man's amusement through the Force.

"Well, this bitch isn't going anywhere. Why is she so important again?"

"Quiet." His partner replied in an unnaturally deep voice. "Call the Sith and tell him we have her trapped." Ventress ignited her lightsabers at the sound of those words, blood boiling at the thought of her capture. Before she could attack, a squad of Mandalorians arrived and took up positions hovering around her. Felix walked forwards, pulling out a DMR.

"You know, I don't understand what's so special about you people." Felix mocked. "All those freaky acrobatics, all those fancy laser swords, and yet you die just as easily as everyone else."

While the sociopath was expecting these words to anger her, they seemed to have the opposite effect as the Nightsaber smirked in a manner that caused even Felix to be disturbed. "Why don't you find out?" She whispered before lunging at him.

Felix barely had enough time to raise his shield, blocking the twin lightsabers from taking his head off. At this, the Mandalorians and Locus opened fire, diverting the witch's attention to her surroundings.

Deflecting the blasterfire back at their firers, Ventress danced across the bridge, her manueverability was heavily limited due to the narrow span of the bridge. The Death Watch soldiers had no such restrictions, flying around the Nightsister as she was forced to defend from all directions.

As the battle continued, Maul and Savage arrived at the other side of the bridge. Ventress was trapped, boxed in by the Nightbrothers and their lapdog mercenaries. Locus fired another sniper round, drawing her concentration yet again, which proved to be a fatal distraction.

A bullet fired by Locus' sniper grazed her shoulder, knocking her off balance and sending her plummeting into the slums. The two Sith Lords rushed to the side of the bridge, but even their enhanced eyesight couldn't spot the Nightsister.

"Sir, that's vorcha territory." A Death Watch captain reported. "Even if she survived that fall, those vermin would tear her apart." Savage clearly had his doubts, as did Maul, but when they reached out through the Force, they could find no trace of Ventress's presence.

"I want search teams down there now to recover the body." Maul ordered before adding, "I don't care what shape it's in. I'll believe she's dead when we find her corpse."

"Belay that order." A deep voice snarled, and they all turned to see an armed force led by a krogan towards them. "Aria demands your presence." He cocked his shotgun, "And she won't take 'no' for an answer."

Maul considered ignoring the krogan. After all, it was no threat, and easily disposed of. But that would mean angering the Pirate Queen of Omega, and as much as the Sith Lord hated to admit it, he still needed her assistance. Sighing, Maul nodded and the Shadow Collective forces followed the group back to Afterlife.

* * *

Afterlife Club

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear." Aria snarled, her voice barely above a whisper. "This station is mine. Therefore, your men do _not_ have free run of the place."

The asari crime lord wasn't too thrilled that the Shadow Collective had undermined her authority by ordering a lockdown of Omega's docking bays. Worse still, she didn't know who Asajj Ventress was, but she was furious that the mercs hadn't tried to take her alive. Because of the unwanted destruction caused by the ensuing chase, Aria had told Maul that she would not be agreeing to a search through the slums.

Savage growled angrily, but Maul put up a hand, preventing him from doing anything rash. "Surely, you can make an exception. I mean-"

"I don't care what your deal is with that bald woman." She interrupted. "You undermined my authority, on my station! Be thankful that you get to leave here alive."

The Sith Lord had to bite back a retort about Aria's chances of actually killing him, instead choosing to leave without another word. Savage snarled at Aria, but said nothing more and followed his brother.

"We can't just leave her down there!" Savage protested as the brothers left the club and met up with their Mandalorian guards. "That witch has survived far worse than that."

"I'm afraid we have no other choice." Maul sighed. "We need Omega's resources and for that we need Aria to run this station. Unfortunately, we must abide by her rules here... for now."

"I will not let her cost me my vengeance." The Nightbrother growled, as both his real and mechanical hands clenched into fists. Maul smiled.

"We will find Ventress again, my brother. And rest assured, Aria T'Loak's days are numbered."

After meeting up with Locus and Felix, the Shadow Collective leaders made their way back to their vessel, but they were not heading to the Scimitar yet. First they needed to make a quick stop at a Blue Suns vessel in system to discuss an operation against Cerberus.

At that thought, it occured to the Zabrak that he had not told Aria what he discovered about Cerberus. It didn't really matter. She wouldn't know what to do with this information. And frankly, she didn't deserve to know.

* * *

Blue Suns Command ship

Solem Dal'serah sat in his office, reading the reports coming in from the Blue Suns forces scattered across the galaxy. Ever since the assault on Zorya, the Blue Suns capital world was being rebuilt, leaving the new CEO to manage his operations from Omega's orbit.

So far, things were going well: besides the reparation of the Blue Suns homeworld, operations had resumed normally after the Reaper conflicts and the Great Flood War. The slaving markets had improved with the help of groups like the Zygerrians, Trandoshans, Kig-Yar and Thallassians, drug trafficking was running rampant throughout the Wards of the Citadel and underlevels of Coruscant, and they had even gained a replacement for the prison ship _Purgatory._

The batarian sighed as he thought about the original loss of that vessel due to the events of 2185. While Kuril had been an idiot for even considering taking on Commander Shepard, the turian knew how to run a prison.

His musings were interrupted when the leaders of the Shadow Collective walked into his office. They were followed by two humans clad in something resembling UNSC Spartan armor.

"Lord Maul." The batarian greeted with a hint of fear. "To what do I owe the unexpected... pleasure of your arrival?" The Sith Lord refused to sit in the opposite chair, instead choosing to stand, looking down on the Blue Suns leader.

"I need your men's services for an important job, for the right price of course." Maul said, surprising Dal'serah; he didn't think the Zabrak would actually be willing to _hire-_ not threaten- the Blue Suns for a job.

"That can be arranged. Though I must ask where you want me to send them?"

"The Citadel. There are Blue Suns forces already stationed there, are they not?" Dal'serah blinked, confused at the request.

"Yes, we have some of our forces stationed there. Why do you need them?" The batarian questioned. Maul smiled and gestured to the two armored soldiers behind him.

"These two need access onto the Presidium in order to attain a very important package."

"Yeah, and we're going to need the muscle to fight past C-Sec." Felix added. Dal'serah's eyes widened.

"But Aria told us to keep our operations quiet so we don't antagonize the-" He was cut off in mid-sentence by the _snap-hiss _of Savage's lightsaber igniting, who held it against the batarian's throat.

"That should be sufficient motivation." Locus muttered as Maul leaned in closer.

"Aria does not need to know about this little... excursion." The Sith Lord said, before his voice dropped to a whisper. "Keep quiet about this, and you get to live. Tell her about it, and you'll learn the true meaning of pain."

Solem Dal'serah would never admit this, but between Aria T'Loak and Darth Maul, he thought the more dangerous of the two was the ruthless Sith Lord. Considering the events on Zorya, the batarian had no problem throwing in his loyalty to the Zabrak over that asari, because no matter how angry the Pirate Queen could get, nothing could compare to the fury of this monster.

Because of that, Dal'serah quickly agreed to the request, but he couldn't help but wonder why the Shadow Collective needed access to the Citadel? And the Presidium, no less. As the two mercenaries left, the batarian realized that whatever it was, he was probably better off not knowing.

* * *

Omega

Meanwhile, Asajj Ventress had indeed survived the fall of that bridge. Knowing that the brothers would follow anyway, she masked her presence in the Force, hoping that it would convince them of her death. Whether it worked or not, she now needed to get off the station, which meant getting past either Shadow Collective forces or Aria's people, and chances are that neither would be too happy to see her.

But those problems were for another time. Right now, she had more pressing concerns. For starters, she had landed in vorcha territory and now those adaptive rodents hounded her every step. The biggest problem was the wound in her shoulder; frankly, given that it had been grazed by a 50 caliber sniper round, it was a miracle that the arm itself hadn't come off.

Still, it had taken its toll; between the kinetic energy and blood loss from her wound, combined with the constant fighting in order to stave off her attackers, meant that Ventress was on the verge of collapse by the time she reached the Gozu District.

Soon, she reached the outskirts of a nearby clinic, run by one Maelon Heplorn. Her prowess with the Force was the only thing keeping her awake as she slowly shambled toward the entrance. A pair of mechs alerted the doctors to her presence, as Maelon's assistance, Danial Abrams, greeted her at the door.

"Oh, god." The human whispered, before turning to several nearby attendants. "Get a stretcher and some medigel. Now! And tell Doctor Heplorn that we have a new patient."

At that point, the Nightsister collapsed, exhausted from the events that had happened. As her vision swam, she could make out a Salarian and an asari moving her onto a stretcher.

"Please, help me..." She strangled out before everything went black.


	8. Conflicts

Locus and Felix made their way through the Presidium, active camo engaged to keep from being spotted. It wasn't too difficult to do, considering C-Sec had more important things to worry about at the moment.

After the two mercs had landed on the Citadel, they had convinced the Blue Suns there to launch several strikes against civilian targets. This strategy was inspired by the Shadow Collective's takeover of Mandalore years ago, only this time, the Suns were in plainclothes to keep the PMC from being incriminated.

The two ex-soldiers quickly made their way to the morgue as the Presidium burned around them, pausing only to dspatch any C-Sec personnel that stumbled upon them or were in their way. Soon, they arrived at the morgue, and after dispatching the coroners and attendants, they began searching for what they had been hired for.

"Why do they want a dead body?" Felix asked as he opened several drawers containing cadavers. "I mean, whoever they're looking for has already kicked the bucket, so what do they need the corpse for?

"Does it matter?" Locus growled as he searched through the computer terminals, "We're getting paid to find this guy, or whatever's left of him."

He paused, pulled out a shotgun and fired it at a nearby door. The door unsealed and an asari fell through the entrance, her stomach filled with buckshot. She was dead before she hit the ground.

"Still though, it would be nice to know why this is so important." Felix continued as if Locus' casual murder of the cowering attendant hadn't happened. His accomplice chose not to respond, and soon he found what he was looking for.

"Ok, it says they cremated him in 2186, but they kept all the records and files of him."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Felix grumbled, "Download it and let's go!"

Locus activated the data-mine, while simultaneously releasing a virus into the systems to remove any camera recordings of them. As this was happening, an alert grabbed the mercenary's attention.

"Looks like the Suns have been defeated." Locus muttered "no surprise there" before ordering Felix to set the charges they had brought to destroy the place after they were gone.

Locus finished downloading the data and followed Felix out of the room. They were almost out of the building when their luck finally ran out.

"Freeze!"

A squad of C-Sec officers had been making their way through the hallway just as Locus and Felix turned the corner. Rather than surrender, Locus opened fire with his SAW while Felix activated his shield. Suppressing fire forced the officers to duck behind cover, allowing the two mercs time to escape.

Retreating down another hallway, Felix found a structurally weak wall that led to a keeper tunnel. Setting one of the charges he had left, Locus provided covering fire, killing a turian as he rounded the corner. As Locus reloaded, an asari took the chance to assault him with biotics, but before she could, the sociopath downed her with a quick headshot from his DMR.

The wall exploded in a shower of dust and debris, blinding any other officers following them and allowing the duo to escape. Activating their cloaking devices as they rounded the corner, Locus then keyed the detonater, destroying the building and every officer inside. With that explosion, the Citadel would be too distracted to notice the Gozanti-class cruiser leaving with its cargo.

* * *

One hour later

Garrus Vakarian sighed as he looked over the wreckage of the morgue. As a cop-turned-Spectre, the turian knew he had to find a motive for this whole attack, but so far he was coming up empty. None of this made any sense. First the Blue Suns commit random attacks throughout the Presidium (dressing in plainclothes and removing their distinctive tattoos may have fooled everyone else, but Garrus had spent two years fighting them on Omega, so he knew all their weapons and tactics), then a pair of assailants make their way to the morgue and steal... something before bringing the whole building down.

The security footage had been wiped by a virus, meaning there was no way to trace whoever did this. All in all, Garrus was baffled, which was an unusual occurence to say the least.

"Something on your mind?" The turian spun towards the voice behind him, revealing Ashley Williams, a fellow Spectre and former Normandy crew member.

"Good to see you, Ash." Garrus greeted his old friend, "Though if I may ask, what are you doing here?" A ghost of a smirk passed Ashley's lips before disappearing.

"The Council figured you might need some help with this investigation."

"Of course they did." Garrus sighed. "Well, it's always good to see a familiar face. Things have been rather hectic lately."

"I'll bet. Considering the IDA's hunt for Darth Maul, they're calling up everyone to search for him." Ashley was quiet for a moment, before deciding to ask another question.

"By the way, how are you and Tali doing?" Garrus shrugged.

"We're doing well. Her duties as an Admiral have kept her busy, but we still find the time to talk and meet up." Ashley raised an eyebrow.

"And how many times have you met up on the Normandy for... recreational activities?" She teased. For a race incapable of blushing, Garrus was doing a good job of it.

"No comment."

That said, Garrus couldn't deny the truth of her words. He had met up with her on the Normandy more than once in the last few months. They had both been spending a lot of time on the Commander's vessel, partially due to any oppurtunity to see each other, partially due to the crew's friendliness with the Republic, but mainly because of the new Spectre initiative, which involved groups of them working in tandem.

Originally, the Council thought lone Spectres were sufficient enough to handle any task they came across, but the Reaper war, followed by the introduction to the multiverse, had changed that.

Meanwhile, the Spectres had initially thought themselves to be the most dangerous combatants in the multiverse, but the combat prowess of the Jedi and the Spartans had quickly dispelled that notion. In fact, when the three organizations had fought in simulated combat training, the Spectres had come in last every time (2nd place went to the Jedi, and 1st place went to the Spartans).

Their musings and conversation was interrupted by a C-Sec officer.

"Sir, all security footage of the attackers has been erased." An asari said, gesturing to the nearby ruins. "But, eyewitness accounts indicate that they left an hour ago on a freighter."

"Damn. They could be on the other side of the galaxy by now." The turian muttered.

"We should report our findings to the Council." Ashley said. Garrus sighed, but he agreed and the two took his skycar up to the Citadel Tower.

On the way there, the two Spectres were thinking over today's events and still trying to find a reason for it. They were both sure of one thing, though; whatever had happened today, they would be hearing about it soon enough.

* * *

Citadel orbit

"Excellent work." Maul said, impressed at the duo's ruthless nature and intelligence. When his sources said that Locus and Felix were an impressive team together, they weren't lying. The fact that they absolutely hated each other did nothing to interfere with their synergy.

"Yeah, great." Felix said dismissively to the hologram. "I don't know why you needed data from a corpse, and frankly I don't care. When do we get paid?" Maul smirked, both at Felix's obnoxious nature and the glare Locus was giving him.

"You will get your reward in due time. I have another job for you. One that triples the reward of your previous assignment." The ex-soldiers turned back to the hologram, clearly interested.

"We're listening." Locus growled.

"I need you to meet up with some of my forces on Bekenstein." Maul said, as a holographic screen of the planet in question appeared. "There, you will lead a strike team to a gathering of the richest crime lords and corrupt businessmen in the multiverse."

"So, it's an intimidation racket." Felix clarified, "You want us to convince them to throw in with you."

"What if they refuse?" Locus asked, eliciting a psychotic smirk from the Sith Lord.

"Then they are of no use to me."

The two mercenaries looked at each other. It seemed like a good deal, and a much easier job than their attack on the Citadel. And given Darth Maul's resources, they would get paid well to inflict violence no matter what. All in all, Felix was starting to like working with the Shadow Collective, while Locus was just glad to get paid and have something to do.

"I'm liking you more and more." Felix chuckled. "Give us the location and we'll get it done."

Maul's hologram vanished. In it's place, came the complete registry of the event. It was an auction; selling priceless works of art and high class antiqueties. Felix couldn't keep the smile off his face.

This was going to be fun.

* * *

Bekenstein

The galaxy had been busy rebuilding after the Reaper war. The priority repairs had been aimed at the individual homeworlds of each species as well the Citadel, but the more influential planets could also afford to rebuild. Soon, worlds like Bekenstein and Illium were once again prosperous, aimed at helping the rest of the galaxy repair.

This was not out of any sudden generosity or change of heart. The tycoons who ran those worlds knew that it would be more profitable in the long run to do so. There is an old human saying: the more things change, the more they stay the same. This became the policy during the founding of the multiverse governments, and nothing exemplified this aspect more than crime.

Shaking out of his musings, Brandon Davis strode through the auction house, on the lookout for guards, both obvious and disguised. If this heist was going to work, his girlfriend was going to need all the information he could give to her.

Speaking of which...

"You know, you look rather dashing in that tuxedo." A playful voice whispered in his ear, and invisible arms wrapped around his waist. His heart raced as Kasumi Goto traced her fingers around his abs.

"Well, my girlfriend insisted that I wear something nice for the occasion." He quietly whispered, thankful no one was looking at the man who seemed to be talking to himself.

"She certainly has good taste." She responded, as her hand slowly slid lower down his body before abruptly withdrawing. "What do we have, now?" She asked teasingly, nevertheless focused on the job at hand.

"We have a dozen security guards in the room. Half are plainclothes and carrying concealed weapons." The black-armored Eclipse security troopers stood out like a sore thumb, but only because they were meant to draw attention. Meanwhile, the guards disguised as waiters were hidden amongst the crowd, ready to deal with any disturbance.

"This shouldn't be too hard." Kasumi had already disappeared and was on the move. "I'll head for the safe. Tell me if the anyone starts moving in that direction."

"Alright, but be careful." She giggled at his protectiveness.

"You worry too much." Brandon sighed, mingling with the guests while keeping an eye on the hallway to the safe.

It was true, he was often worried for her safety, and yet they had always made it out intact. Though not always without risk. Still though, after surviving her time with Commander Shepard's team, everything else was small time in comparison. Smiling, he thought back to how his life had come to this.

The two of them had been together ever since the Great Flood war, and since that time, Brandon had become a fairly skilled thief in his own right. Initially, it had clashed with his training as a soldier, but considering who they often robbed, it was hard to muster any form of sypmpathy for their victims.

Looking around, it was fairly obvious that this party was filled with the worst form of scum. Drug dealers, slave traders, crime lords from the 'civilized' portions of the multiverse, had gathered here to flaunt their wealth, using it to sell and purchase their ill-gotten gains.

Their target, the host Elias Kelham, had taken over the role filled by Donovan Hock's death. Despite this, he lacked Hock's charm and glamour, but he had double the ego. From what they had heard on this guy from Shepard, stealing from him would be easy.

That train of thought ground to a halt when Brandon noticed a group of ships were heading towards the mansion. Given the fact that most of the guards had their fingers in their ears and were listening to radio chatter, it was clear that this was unexpected.

"Kasumi, we have to abort. Now." He whispered, wary of catching attention.

"What's wrong?" The thief calmly asked, in contrast to her boyfriend's racing heartbeat. "Do they know I'm here?"

"No, but several unknown ships are coming for the mansion, and I don't think they're here for the champagne."

"Alright, give me a second." Kasumi was silent for a moment, making the ex-soldier nervous before the line crackled to life again. "Ok, I grabbed what I could and set the cameras to loop. Head for the secret passage in the bookcase, and I'll see you outside."

"Got it." Brandon confirmed the directions. When they had cased this place, the two thieves had read about the history of the mansion, including some obscure references to secret passages and hidden tunnels in the estate.

It was unclear as to who had built them and why, but regardless, Kasumi had found one hidden in a bookcase that led to the exterior of the mansion. Slowly, Brandon made his way towards the tunnel, making sure he wouldn't attract undue attention in the process.

He had just reached the entrance to the passage when everything went to hell.

Black armored Eclipse security guards turned on the guests they were supposed to be protecting. Given Sayn's loyalty to Maul, it was easy to convince the mercenaries to change sides.

Mandalorian soldiers blasted through the skylight floating down on their jetpacks, blasting anyone who was brave or stupid enough to raise any weapons against the attackers. Meanwhile, a platoon of Black Sun and Zann Consortium soldiers blasted open the doors and windows on the ground floor.

With all the commotion, no one noticed Brandon slip through a passage in the bookshelf, which sealed up behind him.

Meanwhile, as the dust settled from the blast at the front door, Felix strode through the entrance and fired once into the air.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He called, silencing the screaming. "Tonight's entertainment is brought to you by random acts of violence." **(AN: ME3 Citadel reference. I couldn't resist)**

Elias Kelham glared at the armored mercenary in front of him. "How dare you attack my home! Who are you and what do you want from me?" There was a chorus of nodding heads and similar outbursts from the guests, but the mercenary laughed at Kelham's demands.

"It's actually what we want from your guests." Felix chuckled as he pulled out a holoprojector, "And as for what he wants... I'll let him explain."

Before anyone could question him, Felix threw the projector on the floor, which activated, displaying a larger than life hologram of Darth Maul. The number 1 fugitive in IDA space was responsible for this attack, and judging by the methods, his influence was greater than they had initially thought.

"People of the underworld. I offer a simple choice. Pledge your allegiance to me, or die." Most of the crowd was shocked at the tattooed Zabrak's bluntness, but the party's host was the most outraged.

"You really think you can intimidate us like this?!" Kelham angrily yelled, to which the Sith Lord shrugged and Felix muttered 'Yup, pretty much.' "I will never join you, and you can look forward to a very short life."

Felix couldn't believe the man's stupidity. His home had been invaded by an army, his security had turned against him, and he had the gall to threaten one of the most feared crime lords in the multiverse? His next action only sealed his own death warrant.

Kelham pulled out a concealed sidearm and aimed at the grey and orange merc, but before he could pull the trigger, his head exploded. On the upper balcony, Locus decloaked, sniper rifle aimed at the startled crowd.

"Anyone else?" Felix mocked. Everyone in the crowd was silent once again, and more than a few had voided their bowels.

"These are the consequences for crossing me." The Zabrak's hologram gestured towards Kelham's decapitated body as blood started pooling onto the tile floor. "Resist, and you will share his fate." The crowd was much more willing to listen after that.

* * *

Outside, Brandon had managed to get through the passage without being spotted, but when he exited to the exterior, he ran into a lone Zann Consortium soldier, who was taking a break to inhale some death sticks.

The merc turned at the sound of his entrance, but Brandon quickly stabbed him in the throat, before hearing a blaster cocking behind him. He turned to see a Black Sun soldier aiming at him, but before he could pull the trigger, he twitched and died from bullets. Kasumi decloaked behind the body, holding an M-11 suppressor heavy pistol.

"What would you do without me?" Kasumi inquired. Brandon just smiled.

"Here's hoping I never have to find out." He gestured to the spaceport. "C'mon, let's get to the _Razgriz _and get out of here."

* * *

Back inside the mansion, it was easy for Locus and Felix to convince the rest of the part to throw in their support to the Sith Lord's goals. Seeing someone's head get blown off in front of you would do wonders in increasing a person's cooperation.

"Well, this job was easier than expected." Felix said, as the Shadow Collective screened the guests to determine that they would do as they said and not attempt to turn on the Sith. Fortunately, they weren't stupid enough to try. "With all the expensive crap in this vault, plus the payout we're already getting, and it's a damn good day."

Naturally, it was at that moment that they learned of an issue that had just arisen.

"Uh, sir." A Zann Consortium soldier appeared behind them. "We have a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Locus flatly asked.

...

"Oh, that kind of problem." Felix muttered.

They had been led to Kelham's vault, where several of the smallest and most valuable artifacts had been stolen. A Weequay walked up to them to give a report. "Some of the artifacts have been stolen by an unknown individual."

"Yeah, no shit, Captain Obvious." Felix deadpanned, "I think we figured that part out." He stalked over to one of the now empty plinths.

"Do we have any security footage of the vault?" Locus asked the Consortium soldier, who shook his head.

"Nothing useful, it's caught on a loop. Whoever did this is already gone."

"Sir!" A Mandalorian soldier came running down the stairs. "We found two of our guys dead in the yard."

"Looks like we found our thieves." Felix muttered while he followed Locus and the Death Watch warrior up the stairs. They came across the two corpses and examined the surrounding area.

"Tracks lead that way." Locus pointed to a set of footprints that made their way towards the nearby town.

"That's probably where their ship is docked." A second Death Watch trooper had arrived.

"Wow, wonderful insight." Felix snarked as he and Locus made their way to a pair of nearby speeder bikes. "Why don't you two stay here, and make sure nothing else gets stolen? Ok? Thanks."

With that, the two mercs mounted their bikes and took off towards the spaceport. As soon as they were out of hearing range, the first Mandalorian spoke again.

"I hate that prick."

"You and me both." The second replied.

* * *

Spaceport

The two thieves had quickly made their way to the spaceport, which was overflowing with privately owned vessels. Since the _Razgriz _wasn't the Normandy, Brandon didn't get a private docking berth and had to share a space with everyone else.

Normally, this wouldn't matter much to Kasumi or him, but since it was likely that the mansion's attackers would notice the two guards they had killed, they needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, by the time they made it to the landing field, their luck ran out. Two armored mercenaries appeared in the pathway behind them calling for them to halt. Hands in the air, the two of them turned, allowing Locus and Felix to keep an eye on them.

"What the hell are you two supposed to be?" Felix laughed. "A badly dressed CEO and his ninja bodyguard?"

Kasumi didn't reply; instead she hurled a flashbang grenade between them, stunning the two for a moment and giving the two thieves an oppurtunity to escape into the maze of spacecraft. Angered, the two mercenaries followed and soon it was an all out game of cat and mouse.

"Split up and head for the ship!" Brandon ordered. Kasumi nodded and disappeared, causing Felix to stop in confusion. Meanwhile Locus engaged his own cloaking device and soon Brandon was under fire from multiple different directions.

Brandon had two advantages; his familiarity with personal cloaking technology and his instincts as a soldier. But this man, Locus... he was a dangerous opponent. A professional through and through, Locus only cared about completing his mission, no matter the cost.

During training, Brandon had seen similar attitudes in the personalities of many Alliance marines, and even more so in the UNSC Spartans, but this was different. From what little he could tell, Locus had willingly burned out any aspect of his personality that didn't fit his mindset as a soldier. The fact that he had taken the name of his helmet model was proof enough of that.

He had crossed over from a good soldier to a cold-blooded murderer.

While not nearly on the threat level of a Spartan or Sangheili, Brandon knew that he didn't have an easy opponent. Locus prefered hit and run attacks, using his active camouflage to evade detection. However, years of working with Kasumi Goto had taught him how to spot someone using that technology.

Peeking out from cover, Brandon's trained eye caught the telltale shimmer of active camo, and he took aim at him with both pistols. Two rounds found their mark, causing the shroud to deactivate. Locus retaliated with suppressing fire from his SAW, causing Brandon to retreat.

While Brandon and Locus were playing cat and mouse in the sea of docked vessels, Felix slowly looked around, listening carefully to his surroundings for any signs of his invisible opponent. The whisper of an omniblade being activated caught his attention and he spun around, intercepting Kasumi's Shadow Strike with his own larger combat knife.

"Mine is bigger than yours." He mocked.

"So you _are _compensating for something." She took his insult in stride and threw it back in his face. "I wasn't entirely sure until now."

Angered at the slight, Felix kicked her in the stomach, breaking the blade lock, but the thief disappeared before he could capitalize on that advantage. She was good, he had to admit. She used her cloaking suit as naturally as it was for one to breathe.

A barrage of bullets, erupted from behind him, causing him to pull up his hard light shield in self defense. When her gun had overheated, Felix retaliated with precise shots from his DMR, with one round catching her in the shoulder. She retreated further into the bay, with her pursuer chuckling as he followed.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are." He called in a sing-song voice as he slowly stalked through the maze.

Meanwhile, Brandon had made it to his ship and activated the weapons, which targeted Locus and forced him to retreat. Kasumi used Felix's distraction at these events to make a run for the _Razgriz,_ which turned it's turret to the two mercs.

Locus and Felix retreated to cover, allowing the aging gunship to escape. As soon as the vessel made orbit, Brandon made to check on Kasumi, to ensure that she was alright. Thankfully, the wound wasn't too serious and was easily treated by medi gel.

"Those guys will be hunting for us." Brandon said, to which Kasumi nodded.

"Well, I guess we're lying low for a while." Kasumi groaned.

* * *

Meanwhile, back on the ground, Locus and Felix watched the aging transport accelerate into orbit. They had been bested by a pair of thieves, which was a considerable blow to Felix's ego.

"How the hell could we have lost that?!" He demanded angrily, causing the grey and green murderer to look at him.

"You still talk too much." Locus said, causing his partner to glare at him. "If you had spent less time playing with your food, she would have died."

Before Felix could retort, they got a transmission, coming from the Death Watch commander at the mansion. Still annoyed, Felix answered with an angry undertone.

"This better be good."

"Yes, sir." The young Death Watch soldier replied distractedly, "We've been questioning all the guests at the party, y'know, to ensure that they'll actually cooperate."

"What's your point?" Felix growled, his patience rapidly growing thin.

"We've got one Geonosian here, saying that he runs a droid factory on Noveria... and it's funded by Weyland-Yutani." The soldiers were silent for a moment, before Locus spoke.

"Call Lord Maul. He'll want to hear this."

* * *

Noveria

The empty hallways of the facility echoed with the sounds of explosions, cutting torches and footsteps as fireteams of Cerberus soldiers made their entrance into the Weyland-Yutani complex.

This assault had been ordered by General Petrovsky for a number of reasons; partially to gain access to any xenomorph data they would have on site, partially to learn more about their next target, and partially as a favor to companies that backed Cerberus.

Binary Helix and ExoGeni had always been interested in the work Weyland-Yutani had done, and when the Company had set up a facility on Noveria, they thought it would be the perfect oppurtunity for corporate espionage. However, Wey-Yu had proven to be too crafty for the two companies and Noveria's Board of Directors.

Angered, the two companies alerted Cerberus to the base and the droid factory that had also been built on the ice planet. Therefore, this mission would kill two birds in one stroke; they would salvage what they could from the Company, and then take control of the possible battle droid factory.

The former would be especially useful, since xenomorph blood was more acidic than a Thresher Maw's saliva, and the Xenomorphs themselves were deceptively intelligent, which had caused numerous escape attempts and cost Cerberus heavily in terms of equipment and manpower.

Any scrap of intel Weyland-Yutani had on how they controlled these creatures would be increasingly useful for the Illusive Man's plans, and pave the way for human supremacy in the multiverse.

Unfortunately, the Company had apparently gotten word of the attack, as the base had been already been evacuated. Several squads moved into the main atrium, where they passed by a number of strange statues. They looked like xenomorphs that had been cybernetically enhanced with weaponry, but their purpose was unknown. Sighing, a Centurion activated his comm to inform his superiors of this development.

"Sir, there's nothing here." The Centurion reported. "The base was abandoned recently, but the Company only left these weird statues behind."

"What a pity." Petrovsky sighed. "Gather whatever you can, and then link up with the bulk of our forces at the droid factory. Hopefully, we'll find something that gives us an edge over the Separatists."

"Don't be so sure of that." Another voice came over the comm link as several video screens activated displaying an image of Weyland, who could clearly see and hear everything that was going on.

From his command center, Petrovsky could also hear the events that were taking place on Noveria. The Cerberus General was unnerved at how much Weyland sounded like Admiral Steven Hackett, but whereas Hackett had a moral code, this CEO had none.

Shaken from his stupor, Petrovsky knew he had to take control of the situation.

"It appears your staff have absconded, Mr. Weyland." He said calmly, "Perhaps, we can strike a deal."

"What could we possibly offer each other?" Weyland asked.

"Information, perhaps." Oleg replied. "Though I must admit, I am curious as to how you knew we were coming?"

The synthetic chuckled at the General's inquiry.

"Your organization stole creatures that we have a monopoly on, and you recieve funding from ExoGeni and Binary Helix, and yet you thought we wouldn't notice your interest in us?" Weyland laughed. "Oh, and that droid factory you're hoping to capture has nothing to do with the Separatists in the slightest. It's been used as a supplement to manpower by making old Clone Wars model battle droids." Weyland flashed an uncannily disturbing grin.

"Though if you want to know about old combat robots, we can oblige on that regard." The screens shut down, leaving the Cerberus forces angry, confused and more than a little scared. Just what did Weyland mean about old combat mechanoids?

That's when an Engineer noticed one of the 'statues' looking at him.

The statues came to life and attacked the Cerberus platoons with powerful weaponry. Xenoborgs were incredibly slow moving, but that mattered little when their opponents had no way to escape the onslaught. The air was thick with weapon fire and dying mechanical screams.

From the deep space command center, Weyland watched the resulting carnage with no small degree of satisfaction. The xenoborgs had been an initial attempt to turn the xenomorphs into weapons, but while the process had made them extremely dangerous, it also removed the aspects of the creatures that had made them deadly.

Furthermore, each xenoborg was extremely expensive and often suffered from mechanical glitches, meaning they weren't profitable in the long run. But now, as rear guards for an empty base to hold until the self-destruct sequence activates? They were working just fine.

Of course, the synthetic also knew that Cerberus was also here for the droid factory they had funded, which was why they had infected the production line with a virus that caused them to attack anything on sight.

The factory had been created by a private Geonosian company looking to sell old model CIS droids to under equipped militaries throughout the multiverse. The Company had agreed to fund it in exchange for a cut of the profits. However, the stigma from the Clone Wars had left its impact and few militaries were willing to pay for weak and incompetent battle droids.

In the end, the facility was no longer necessary, so it was decided to cut their losses and leave. Soon, the base was engulfed in a massive explosion that vaporized the building and everything inside it. Meanwhile, the viral infection at the factory had already started spreading, causing the droids to go on a rampage.

Weyland smiled when the screen turned to static, then he shut it down and left to deal with other matters.

* * *

Noveria Orbit

"Sir, we're reading a massive energy reading from the planet's surface."

"Location?" Maul asked, concerned that it might be the destruction of the very factory they had come here for. Thankfully, it hadn't come to that.

"About 20 miles from the factory's location. It seems likely that antimatter charges were used to destroy a defunct research base."

Maul inwardly sighed in relief at the thought of his prize being intact. When Locus and Felix had called in reporting the presence of a battle droid factory on Noveria that had been funded by elements of the Separatists, the Sith Lord had been estatic at the prospect of an army of those at his disposal. He realized that the Separatists wouldn't actually leave their own advanced forces in IDA space, but an army of less advanced automata would still be a force to be reckoned with.

The Sith had gathered up a fleet and made for Noveria as fast as possible, arriving just in time to witness the destruction of the Weyland-Yutani facility. Immediately, the Shadow Collective had been besieged by threats from the corporate moguls in charge of Noveria to stand down and submit to the authority of the Board of Directors.

Naturally, Maul had no intention of submitting, which was demonstrated to the NDC with the debris of one of the planet's defense platforms. Now, the fleet could focus their attention on the planet in peace when the sensor operator called out an incoming threat.

"Sir, I'm reading a fleet of Cerberus vessels in orbit. They're converging on us as we speak."

"They're after the factory." Savage murmered, reaching out through the Force to determine their intentions. Maul nodded in agreement.

"They will not succeed." He said before addressing his crew, "Destroy the fleet in orbit. Prepare the landing craft for immediate departure."

"What about the Cerberus forces on the ground?" The ship's captain asked, and Maul's answering smirk made him wish he hadn't.

"I will direct the battle against them personally." With that, the two brothers left for the hanger, eager to satiate the bloodlust within them.

* * *

Noveria Surface

The Shadow Collective forces had touched down around the factory and had immediately disgorged their troops. Cerberus forces had already engaged them and soon were engaged in full blown warfare against the Black Sun and Zann Consortium.

However, Maul's fighter had landed at the factory landing pad itself, leaving the two brothers with an excellent view of the unfolding battle. Cerberus forces had already made it inside the factory, but the squad at the platform didn't last long against the two Zabraks.

Having taken care of the welcoming committee, Maul directed his forces to deploy an old friend to turn the tide against the Cerberus forces outside.

A convoy of Mako tanks and Atlas mechs drove through Noveria's icy landscape, but were gutted by the massive Annihilator droid, which showed no mercy to the Cerberus soldiers. Heavy weapon fire splashed against the droid's shield, but it still held strong.

Regardless, Cerberus was clever enough to realize the shield wouldn't hold indefinitely and they were pounding on it with everything they had. Because of that, they only noticed the carbonite missiles when it was far too late. Missile Attack Launchers had set up a position far from the frontlines and were now bombarding the Cerberus positions.

A cloaked repulsor transport disgorged troops behind enemy lines, and while the extreme cold wasn't helping the Mandalorian jetpacks, the Zann Consortium and Black Sun were more than able to pick up the slack.

Before the Shadow Collective could breach the factory, an army of battle droids started emerging from the entrances and opened fire on the Collective and Cerberus forces alike. Despite their best efforts, the human-supremacists had failed to reprogram the automata and now they were caught in a vice between two enemy forces.

Inside the factory, scores of soldiers were slaughtered by Cerberus Phantoms and Dragoons, who had already entered in an effort to capture the droids within. The fact that Weyland-Yutani had caused the production lines to go haywire had made the job so much more difficult, but the Cerberus special forces kept to their mission.

They knew the price if they failed here. Besides, the Shadow Collective soldiers and flimsy mechanized robots had little defense against biotic attacks, meaning they were slaughtered en masse.

A sense of smug superiority shot through the indoctrinated minds. These aliens were easy prey to the monomolecular blades of the Phantoms, and the biotic whips of the Dragoons. What could possibly stop them?

"Oh crap! It's-" _VZZZM!_

The _snap-hiss _of igniting lightsabers answered that question, as Darth Maul and Savage Oppress appeared and batted aside the attacks with ease. The Cerberus troops were fast, but the Force-users were faster, easily parrying the energy-resistant swords and penetrating their biotic barriers as if they were non-existent.

Like many melee weapons nowadays, a Phantom's sword had been treated to resist high temperature melee weapons such as plasma swords and lightsabers. There were many materials capable of this (Jiralhanae metal was quite durable in that regard and Yautja metal was completely immune to it), but none in Citadel Space. So the blades had been infused with minute amounts of dark energy, which could resist plasma blades for a couple of direct strikes.

A Dragoon unleashed a biotic blast at Maul, who had sensed it in advance and used the Force to pull a panel from the wall to block it. Taking advantage of the cyborg's surprise at that move, the Sith unleashed a bolt of Force lightning, frying the nanotechnology in his cybernetics.

The Reaper-addled minds of the Cerberus soldiers were still capable of feeling fear, and right now the tattooed Zabraks were absolutely terrifying. Lightsabers bypassed kinetic and biotic barriers, melting flesh and armor like a hot knife through butter.

It got worse when the Mandalorian Death Watch entered the fray. Unlike the previous Shadow Collective forces, they were clad in nigh-indestructable armor. Any biotic attacks only left a mark on the paint while failing to even dent the plating.

With the Death Watch mopping up the survivors of the Sith rampage, Cerberus was all but annihilated, leaving only the rogue battle droids. Like the Clone Wars, they had no sense of strategy or tactics, meaning they were easy to take down, which was a fact Maul and Savage knew very well.

Eventually, the two brothers made it to the control room, and found what Cerberus had already known: that the factory's production lines had been infected with a virus, causing the droids to attack anything on sight. Fortunately, there were still uninfected droids in storage, so they could still turn this into a victory (though Cerberus had helped by bypassing most of the droids for them).

"Load up the droids." Maul ordered. "Once we're clear, I want this factory burned to the ground."

Several hours later, as the Kom'rk fighter lifted up through the atmosphere, Maul couldn't help but smile at the bombardment of the factory. Dozens of explosions went off as munitions cooked and ruptured, before the reactor itself went critical, causing a massive sphere of destruction.

Soon after, the fleet disappeared into hyperspace, leaving Noveria's investigators to clean up the mess.

* * *

Cronos Station II

The Illusive Man sighed as he watched the footage for the seventh time that day. Watching Darth Maul and Savage Opress slaughter his best troops with ease was not a very reassuring sight.

The head of Cerberus recalled when he first heard of the Force and had considered a way to breed and harness an army of Force-using humans. However, his benefactor had called it off, explaining that it was nearly impossible to breed an army of Force-users.

Oleg Petrovsky had sent the after-action report, having been in a completely different system at the time of the Noveria operation. The Shadow Collective had interfered with Cerberus operations for far too long.

His benefactors were demanding results, and had prepared a plan to lure the brothers to their doom. All Cerberus would have to do was set the bait, and then Darth Maul would be nothing but a memory.

* * *

Unknown Location

O'rika looked over the hologram, which elicted a low growl from him and the other Yautja aboard their vessel. The hologram in question was of a space station; specifically the Weyland-Yutani space station in IDA space that held their commanders and directors.

Thanks to the events on Noveria, the Republic had been able to track the Weyland-Yutani presence to this location, and had ordered the Empire of the Hand to commence boarding operations, in order to put an end to the Company's illegal machinations in the IDA.

Due to their crossed paths, O'rika and his clan would remain with Empire of the Hand's forces for the forseeable future, conducting joint operations among the brave soldiers of the 501st Legion.

Of course, due to the clan's leave of absence, any operations they committed that were discovered by the IDA could be considered as a hostile act, and the Republic would be forced to denounce them as a rogue faction, leaving them at the IDA's mercy until they reached safer territory. The Predators were made aware of the risks by Republic Command, and announced that this was a volunteer operation.

Every Yautja in the clan agreed without hesitation.

In this case, the Predators would be leading the assault here, due to their extensive familiarity with the Company. The Yautja deactivated the projection and got ready for the attack. Whatever would happen afterwards, there was one certainty:

Weyland-Yutani's reckoning had come.


	9. Hostile Takeover

Deep Space

Several boarding craft hurtled through the depths of space, ready to strike their target. Inside the craft, the various occupants were listening to their commanding officer as he gave the pre-mission briefing.

"Alright troops, here's the short version." Commander Stent addressed his troops and their allies. "We've tracked the Weyland-Yutani operations to this station, which is no doubt heavily defended." A hologram of the station appeared.

"We need to shut down the Company's activities here, so our best bet is a fast blitz through the station. So here's the plan;" Several areas on the station became highlighted in blue, "Alpha, Beta and Gamma teams will board at these critical junctions and make their way to the reactor. If Weyland feels threatened, he'll likely order the destruction of the station, and I'll be damned if I lose good stormtroopers to that corporate scum."

"What about the Hunters?" One of the squad commanders asked, more for the rest of their troops to know rather than them. Another area of the map became highlighted, this time in red.

"The Predators will make their way to the command center, and take control of the station's defenses. Once that's done, you are to capture Weyland and any other high ranking Company officials."

"Will the Yautja even be willing to take them alive?" One soldier asked. It was a valid concern, considering the Predators absolutely despised the Company for their desecration of Yautja temples and artifacts.

"Fear not," It was the hologram of O'rika who answered that question. "We know what's at stake. Contrary to popular belief, the Yautja are not the blood hungry savages most of the multiverse paints us as."

"You all know your roles." Stent interjected. "So let's get this done quickly. Good luck, and May the Force be with you."

* * *

Weyland-Yutani space station

It had been quiet for the last two days. Ever since the order had been given to evacuate several Company stations and move all assets and personnel to Separatist space, there had been little work to do.

Personally, Burke enjoyed the silence. It was an improvement over the stressful nature of Weyland-Yutani's operations. And it had been especially enjoyable to witness Cerberus' failed attack on Noveria.

After the incident in the Terminus Systems, it was only a matter of time before the human-supremacist organization turned its sights towards the Company. Knowing that, it was easy to deduce Noveria as the next target and prepare accordingly.

It was Burke who suggested unleashing the xenoborgs, arguing that they would otherwise just be sitting in a warehouse gathering dust. Compared to the current xenomorph bioweapons used by the Separatists, those cyborg bugs would be more useful as rearguards or as a method of closing a trap.

Regardless, Noveria had been one of the last bastions of the Company's assets in IDA space. There was little to do now but wait. Unfortunately, the wait had ended.

"Sir, we've got proximity alerts on decks 6, 11, and 24!" The sensor operator yelled. "We've been boarded!"

"How did they get past our defenses?" Burke demanded, angry at the man for failing to spot an impending attack.

"Stealth boarding craft." The man replied. "Presumably they've been running dark for the past few hours."

"He's right." The troop commander said. "We're getting scattered reports of white armored invaders equipped with stealth tech."

"Cerberus?" The Company official asked, worried that the terrorist organization had tracked them down.

"Doubtful." The commander said. "They're too well organized to be Cerberus."

"It doesn't matter who they are, we still need to repel them."

"Get assault teams in position." Weyland ordered, "We need to defend this station."

Burke gave the order to repel boarders, while mentally cursing the fact that they had no access to full Separatist military assets in IDA space. If they did, then they would have been assisted by battle droids, Helghast and Space Pirates. As it stood, the station only carried Weyland-Yutani PMCs, Combat Androids, and their own weapons.

This meant defending against an all-out assault would more difficult and cost a lot more money and personnel. But as Burke monitored the battle, he got several worrying reports from the combat androids.

"Sir! We're getting reports that the boarding parties include Imperial stormtroopers and Yautja Hunters!" Burke yelled over the din, causing everyone in the control room to go quiet.

Weyland stood there thinking, his synthetic mind rapidly judging the situation and his best course of action. On one hand, if he could stop the bloodshed now, they might have a possibility of invoking the current Republic-Separatist ceasefire agreement and evacuating to safer territory. On the other hand, the Weyland-Yutani branch in IDA space was not technically considered part of the Separatist military, and given the Yautja's previous history with the Company, they might not be willing to accept a surrender.

Thinking quickly, the android made his decision and activated the station intercom.

* * *

O'rika snarled as took several rounds to the chest, forcing the Yautja to take cover. Fortunately, his armor had staved off the worst of the damage, but as he looked at the bodies around him, he knew that not everyone had been so lucky.

The assault had been going smoothly at the start. The stealth transports had deposited their complements quickly, allowing the first teams to secure the reactor. When the Predators led the charge to the command center however, the attack stalled. PMCs and Combat Androids armed with heavy weaponry had been deployed to repel the boarders, and it was currently a stalemate between the two factions.

'Well, no plan survives contact with the enemy.' O'rika thought as he fired a plasma bolt downrange, taking a synthetic's head off. Retaliatory fire forced the Yautja back into cover.

The PMCs had locked down a trio of hallways, which were keeping the invading forces at bay. To combat this, the Empire of the Hand brought out the heavy weapons they could bring to bear.

The 501st had managed to set up an E-web nest in one of the halls, suppressing the defending androids and PMCs and forcing them to seal off the hallway, though not before they left behind some auto sentry turrets to hold them off. In response, Weyland-Yutani broke out some of their experimental weapons, as O'rika bore witness to from his position.

A phase plasma pulse rifle opened up, striking a stormtrooper in the chest and sending him to the ground. A second PMC fired on the other formation with a SHARP stick, embedding itself in the wall before exploding, taking two stormtroopers with it.

O'rika snarled, upset at the pointless waste of life. The Predators were stealth experts; had they gotten here sooner, they may have been able to get to the control room without such casualties.

The Yautja activated their Republic issue energy shields and readied his weapons. The Hunters would lead a straight charge to the control center, carving their way through the enemy forces before the Company could call for reinforcements.

However, just before O'rika could charge in plasma caster blazing, the station's PA system crackled to life.

"_To the Imperial and Predator boarders. We humbly request a ceasefire, allowing a chance to negotiate the terms of our surrender."_

That was... unexpected to say the least. O'rika poked his cloaked head around the corner, and sure enough, the PMCs had lowered their weapons to the ground and had their hands in the air as a gesture of good faith.

The reactions of the soldiers were mixed: some were as surprised as the 501st at the order, while others were outraged at not being able to fight any longer. Most, though, were terrified of being at the mercy of the Predators. Luckily for them, the Empire of the Hand would be in charge of holding them, as they started moving their new prisoners to their Sentinel-class landing craft.

"Keep a close eye on them." Su-mil ordered. "Make sure they don't do anything stupid."

It took a moment for this unexpected turn of events to be relayed to the commanding officers of this joint mission, but Commander Stent agreed to the ceasefire and ordered O'rika and Su-mil to meet him in one of the docking bays, after getting assurances from Weyland that he would be there.

Nevertheless, Weyland and his second-in-command would be escorted to the docking bay under stormtrooper guard, and the 501st would check for any traps or surprises that the Company left behind.

* * *

"Mr. Weyland, are you sure this is a wise course of action? One of the scientists fearfully asked.

A number of personnel in the control room nodded their agreement at that statement, feeling unease at being prisoners. Thought they were relieved at being held by the Empire of the Hand instead of the Yautja, it was no secret that Imperials were not the most forgiving bunch.

"This is the only way we can make it out of the situation alive." Weyland calmly stated, contrasting with the tension in the room.

Before anyone else could offer their opinion on the matter, two squads of stormtroopers entered the control room and began guiding the occupants to their transports. Four of the white armored soldiers broke off and walked up to Weyland and Burke.

"You two are coming with us." A deep voice rang out in a tone dripping with venom. Weyland remained unperturbed and gestured to the doorway.

"By all means, lead the way."

Given some 'gentle' encouragement by one of the stormtroopers guarding them, Burke followed behind his boss into the docking bay. He was nervous, for obvious reasons; the history between the Company and the Predators had been... rather bloody over the years. The only silver lining was the presence of the Empire of the Hand, who were much more reasonable than the Yautja, and the fact that Michael Weyland had built the synthetic in front of him with negotiating deals in mind. Burke only hoped that programming would work now more than ever.

In what felt like an eternity, Burke and Weyland reached the designated meeting point, where several stormtroopers stood near their commander; who had his helmet off, revealing his nature as a Chiss.

As they reached the area where the commander was standing, a telltale shimmer emerged on the Chiss' left side, decloaking to reveal a Predator. While it wasn't surprising that one would be here, the creature's presence did not bode well for negotiations.

Burke gulped, as a trickle of fear crawled down his spine. He could only hope that this meeting would go well.

* * *

Stent just looked at the man in front of him and knew he was dealing with some sort of Human Replica Droid. With the unnaturally calm posture and serene expression on his face, it was obvious that he did not care about the armed soldiers who could kill him immediately. Stent had also heard of the Wey-Yu CEO's tendency of building android models of himself, and it seemed clear that the 'real' Weyland had a serious ego problem.

O'rika was already aware of the synthetic nature of the human in front of him. Even if he hadn't been aware of the story of Karl Bishop Weyland, the Predator's bio-mask easily confirmed that it was an android.

Su-mil was unimpressed by Weyland's appearance, considering his obvious corporate upbringing. That said, he was surprised at how calm the man was in the face of overwhelming firepower, meaning he was rather fearless, or he had some other plan.

The synthetic stepped forward, but instead of agreeing to the surrender, he requested that he and all captured Weyland-Yutani personnel be released into the custody of the Separatists.

"What?!" O'rika snapped, already drawing his wrist blades in anticipation of some sort of betrayal. Burke noticeably flinched at this action, but Stent held the Yautja back.

"Let's hear it." Stent gestured for Weyland to continue.

"Under the current ceasefire agreements between the Republic and the Separatists, any prisoners of war are to be released in exchange for prisoners held by the opposite faction, or in the lack of that, valuable intelligence."

Stent and O'rika looked at each other. While that was a true clause in the ceasefire agreement, it was rarely used due to the widespread emergency teleportation modules used by soldiers of both sides, allowing quick extraction in the event of capture. While it was possible to for the module to malfunction or be destroyed, any battles between the two factions would rarely end with any organic soldiers left alive. They were either extricated from the battlefield, or they were killed. Plus, that treaty didn't technically apply to allies of either interdimensional superpower.

Weyland had to know that the Empire of the Hand wasn't a part of the Republic, meaning his argument was based on rather flimsy pretenses. The android would have to have some really good intel to get an agreement from them. Turning back to the matter at hand, Stent decided to ask.

"So, Mr. Weyland..." Stent drawled. "What exactly can you offer that would make releasing you and your people back to the Separatists so appealing?"

"In exchange for our release, we will give you all our intel on known Cerberus operations and assets."

There was a moment of silence as this sunk in. The Empire of the Hand and the Yautja clan had expected a threat of Separatist military retaliation, or the reveal of a trap... not this. Stent and O'rika were surprised at how willing Weyland was to hand over classified Company documents and intelligence to them, and judging by the look on Burke's face, so was he.

"You're lying." The Predator snapped. "We've gone over your databanks, and there was no evidence of such intelligence."

"Of course, there isn't." Burke joined in on the conversation with some fire in his voice. "We deleted our classified files as soon as we knew we were under attack. Really, how stupid do you think we are?"

Burke's newfound courage quickly evaporated by the glares being sent his way by Stent and O'rika. Meekly backing down, he allowed Weyland to finish his offer.

"However, I know how to get that infomation again. And if you agree to allow us safe passage back to Separatist space, our intel on Cerberus' operations is all yours."

"Assuming your offer is genuine... why would you willingly hand that over to us?" Stent asked for clarification. The android just smiled.

"We want to stop Cerberus as much as you do. The xenomorphs they acquired-" Weyland's speech came to an abrupt halt as O'rika's hand wrapped around his throat and lifted him off the ground.

"The xenomorphs they acquired from you!" The Predator snarled as he tightened his grip. "We know that you were the ones to smuggle the serpents into the Terminus Systems! So give us one good reason to help _you_?!" The synthetic smirked before replying.

"Because if Cerberus uses them to attack IDA space, then it'll be an all-out war between them and the Separatists. And we both know that's something neither of our governments can afford."

Su-mil was surprised at how eloquently Weyland had spoken, given the Predator choking the life out of him. Even more surprising was the fact that O'rika released his grip, causing him to stumble to the floor.

"You're not part of the Separatists." Stent said, then in a bored tone of voice stated; "Weyland-Yutani is not affiliated with the Separatist government in any way." He cited the 'Official' stance on the Company's business practices. Unofficially, of course, everyone knew that they were in bed with the Separatists. Hell, Michael Weyland had a seat on the Separatist Council!

"We both know that the IDA populace won't care about that." Weyland retorted, rubbing his neck in an effort to appear more human. "If Cerberus launches a xenomorph attack against the IDA, the people will be howling for Separatist blood. And given the ceasefire agreement, the Republic will almost certainly be dragged into the conflict."

Deep down, the Yautja and the Chiss knew he was right. Though either organization could defeat the IDA with relative ease, it was a distraction neither could afford, especially with the resurgence of the Flood. The Republic and Separatists were focusing most of their efforts on the parasite and their Necromorph and Reaper pawns, meaning that they couldn't afford to spread themselves too thin. With hunter-killer fleets scattered throughout the multiverse, plus the occasional small-scale skirmish and border dispute between the two interdimensional superpowers, they were already preoccupied as it is. This meant that a conflict with the IDA could prove disastrous for the multiverse at large. Both factions had already been forced to limit the hunt for Darth Maul due to the Flood threat and IDA politics (as neither the Republic nor Separatists wanted to provoke an incident with them).

"Show us what you have." Stent ordered. O'rika growled as the targeting lasers from his plasma caster aimed at the android's head. The threat was clear. Nevertheless, the android wouldn't back down.

"Not until you agree to allow us to leave if we give you the information."

Reluctantly, the Chiss and the Yautja nodded. Weyland pulled a datapad out of his suit and tossed it to O'rika, who caught it with ease. Pouring over the contents, he snarled in surprise and handed the pad to Stent.

Eyes widening, the 501st commander looked at Weyland in surprise. The offer was genuine, but it was still hard to believe. The android smugly smiled: he knew that they now had new information.

"Cut 'em loose." Stent ordered reluctantly before turning to Weyland. "You've got your passage back to Separatist space, but if you return to IDA territory, don't expect the same hospitality."

As if to prove the point, O'rika growled, unsheathing his wrist blades as a warning. Weyland just nodded and turned to leave for the hanger. It was time to get off this station.

* * *

An hour later, all Weyland-Yutani personnel had been evacuated, their ships had been hardwired for a one way trip to the Andromeda galaxy, meaning they couldn't divert from their flight path until they arrived in Separatist territory.

Shortly afterwards, the Empire of the Hand and the Predators detached from their mountings and left the station, which immediately detonated as soon as they were all at a safe distance.

Now, the allied forces were dealing with a problem; their primary objective was still to find the location of Darth Maul, but without IDA approval, they couldn't get much help from the Republic. And as for Cerberus, it was still a delicate matter, since their return had been completely under the radar. They needed more intel about their new leaders, and more importantly, they needed to know who had helped them return. There were any number of anti-alien organizations in the IDA and revealing it now could lead to chaos amongst the InterDimensional Alliance as wild accusations would be thrown around as to who was responsible.

Still, there was someone in the IDA who could help track down Cerberus, as he had done before. Someone the Republic could trust. So, Stent, O'rika and his clan leader went to discuss it with the hologram of Admiral Voss Parck.

"So, do we call in Commander Shepard?" Stent asked, causing the Yautja to shake his head.

"Not at the moment." O'rika replied, "The Normandy crew is dealing with their own problems, and afterwards, they're apparently scheduled to pick up and escort a pair of Republic scientists around the multiverse for a couple of weeks."

"We'll need more data anyways." Parck added, "But once we know more, we'll call the Commander and give him this information. In the meantime, you should focus your efforts on finding our Sith quarry."

"Agreed." O'rika rumbled. "Though Cerberus' return is a threat, Darth Maul is still our number one priority. And who knows, given their criminal operations, those two factions could lead us to the other."


	10. Schemers and Machinations

Zann Consortium Mark V space station

As the Shadow Collective's influence had been growing, so too had their forces. These space stations served as their support, some of the lower classes doubling as repair stations and shadowports, while the Class 4 and 5 models were full scale military staging areas and often doubled as shipyards.

Normally, a class five station would only be reserved for a critical sector of the Collective's influence. Within the Omega Nebula, there were no fewer than three that had been constructed. One doubled as a defense platform for one of the Zann Consortium's newest shipyard, another served as a recruitment center for mercenaries.

The third served as Darth Maul's headquarters outside of Omega, and was well-equipped for such a purpose. Squadrons of StarVipers and Skipray Blastboats flitted through the void, in between the bulky and menacing Aggressor-class Destroyers and Keldabe-class battleships, while several frigates were docked for repair. Crusader corvettes and frigates of Vengeance and Interceptor-IV class patrolled the space nearby. Stolen Tartan-class patrol ships and Broadside-class cruisers lay hidden in the nearby asteroids. Defended by an array of plasma, laser and missile satellites, along with secondary bases built into nearby asteroids, and surrounded by a fleet, which currently included the Sith Lord's flagship Scimitar, it would be easy to think of the station as impregnable.

However, due to the abundance of criminals moving in and out, it wasn't too difficult to slip spies or assassins past security. Unfortunately, they were always detected by the Sith Lord before they could report back, as an STG team led by a Captain Tolan was learning the hard way.

"Now, you didn't actually think that I would fail to notice your presence, did you?" The Sith Lord rhetorically asked.

He was levitating the Salarian captive by the throat, in front of a large audience of mixed species, while the rest of Tolan's team were on their knees, being held at blasterpoint by Maul's Death Watch warriors.

Savage Opress was standing at his brother's side, lightsaber hilt in hand, albeit deactivated. Meanwhile, Locus and Felix stood nearby with mercenaries taking stock of the Salarian weapons confiscated from their captives, occasionally watching the spectacle with a dispassionate interest.

"You will get nothing from me!" The Salarian spat with what little breath he had. Maul just smirked.

"I already have everything from you." The Zabrak stated. "You are Captain Tolan of the Special Tasks Group, dispatched with orders to locate and kill me if the opportunity arises. You served with then-Captain Kirrahe on Virmire do destroy the base of Saren Arterius, and survived with the help of Commander Shepard. During the Reaper War, you advocated the death of the krogan female crucial to the Genophage cure," At that statement, several krogan in the audience growled and glared at the floating Salarian. "and the desire of the Salarian Union to completely stay out of the Reaper War and let the other species take the punishment for you." At this, several of the species in question, including even some Salarians followed the krogan example and began glaring at the STG Captain. The only response evident on Tolan's face was the widening of his eyes.

"So you see Captain, I have no further use for you." The Sith looked at the Nightbrother beside him. "Savage?"

Taking the hint, the brute ignited one of the energy blades on his hilt. Savage grinned and swung his lightsaber. In one smooth motion, he decapitated Tolan, leaving a smouldering stump where his head used to be. At that signal, the rest of the STG team was executed by blaster fire.

"Dispose of them." Maul gestured to the Salarian bodies, causing the crowd to disperse.

The two Zabraks strode over to Locus and Felix, while a Death Watch captain also made his way to the position of the Sith Lord.

"What do we have?" Savage asked, causing Felix to look up.

"Well, we've got some high end shit here." The grey and orange armored mercenary replied. "I can see why the STG gets so much funding."

"We've got mostly Venom shotguns and Scorpion heavy pistols." Locus interjected, shooting a glare in Felix's direction. "Some other hacking programs and tech in their omni-tools, but nothing that could be used to track our location."

Maul nodded in approval. "Take them to the armory and get them checked out. Let's see if we can't replicate and sell them on the black market."

As soon as the two mercenaries nodded and left with the group holding the weapons, the Mandalorian soldier with imitation Zabrak horns stepped forward.

"Sir, we've purged the guards who let the intruders on board and have tightened security protocols." Gar Saxon reported. "There's no chance that the STG can come in the same way again."

"Good, you have done well, Commander." Maul responded. "Now, alert the rest of the military commanders and get them to the command center. We have much to discuss."

...

Soon, the top leaders of Maul's various criminal factions were gathered around the holotable, discussing long term strategic goals against Cerberus, as well as their dealings and enterprises throughout the rest of the multiverse. Representatives of the Black Sun, Zann Consortium, and Pyke Syndicate were there, along with Maul, Savage and Death Watch commander Gar Saxon.

As the meeting went on, several sets of eyes were on the hologram showing the Shadow Collective's finances and troop strength. The amount of money amassed was staggering; a significant amount of it had come from Palpatine's vaults that had been raided by the Zann Consortium, while Maul had taken the rest from his Master's vaults, which only he knew the location to. The rest of their money came from all the illicit activities the Shadow Collective had running.

But it was the troop strength that really drew attention: Death Watch composed a single legion, nearing ten thousand soldiers. Combine that with the mercenary forces under the control of Black Sun and the Zann Consortium (and barring those of the Blue Suns, Blood Pack, Eclipse, battle droids, mechs and any slave soldiers), and the ground troops of the Shadow Collective numbered at well over a million.

While an impressive force, it was only a drop in the bucket compared to the total strength of the Galactic Alliance military alone. With the rest of the IDA included in that number, and there was no contest. Nevertheless, a million highly trained mercenaries was a force to be reckoned with if used correctly. And that's exactly what Darth Maul intended to do. And yet, the real power of the Shadow Collective came from the political manipulation and money made from corrupt politics. This was something the Sith Lord would exploit to gain power. But that goal was still far away.

The group was in discussion about the possible benefits of slave soldiers against Cerberus forces when a female Mandalorian warrior in black and red armor walked into the briefing room.

"My apologies for the interruption, Lord Maul." Rook Kast said as she walked in. "But there's something on the HoloNews you need to see."

"Very well, then." Maul responded. "Savage, Saxon, you're in charge of the briefing until I return."

Savage hung back, in deep conversation with the military commanders as Maul headed for the comms room. On his way, the Red and black tattooed Zabrak felt a small flicker of pride for how far his brother had come. Initially, the Nightbrother had been rather brutish in his mannerisms and fighting, but now he had become well-versed in military strategy.

The Sith was shaken out of his musings when he got to the comm room. A hologram was frozen in place, likely due it being recorded. With the press of a button, Kast restarted the footage, showing a female Devaronian newscaster.

"-riots have broken out on multiple worlds, all denouncing the Republic and Separatist governments."

The scene switched to several different people being interviewed, the first was a Bothan.

"The Republic government claims to be democratic, but is effectively run by a single man. The fact that those who live there refuse to accept that they live in a dictatorship means that they must have some sort of state-wide indoctrination or brainwashing."

"The Citadel Council has existed for milennia." The scene changed to a Volus. "Some of the other IDA governments have existed for much longer, but all have been in power for centuries. The Republic and Separatists have only existed for only a few decades, yet they have access to technology they are not ready for."

"Frankly, I can understand where they're coming from." The screen shifted to a female Sangheili. "The IDA hasn't exactly been the most effective at dealing with their own problems. The Republic and Separatists at least seem able to get things done in an efficient and timely manner."

"These people are children playing with nukes." An asari Matriarch said. "The Republic should dissolve their military, and hand over their technology to those who have more experience in these kinds of problems."

Kast couldn't help but roll her eyes at the asari's hypocrisy, especially since they had kept a Prothean Beacon hidden on their homeworld before the Reaper war. Because of that, they had gleefully made themselves the masters of their galaxy while limiting everyone else that came later. She turned back as the newscast continued.

"Some protesters even claim that the return of the Flood is a disinformation campaign by the two interdimensional superpowers, as an excuse to keep building up their militaries."

Maul actually scoffed at that. The amount of bantha fodder being spewed out by the idiotic masses was absolutely mindboggling. Still, he wasn't sure what was so important about this broadcast that he needed to see. He was about to ask Kast when it changed to a different setting.

"In a related story, Galactic Alliance Chief of State Wynn Dorvan has issued a statement indicating that the Jedi Order has been tasked with tracking down the Shadow Collective leader, Darth Maul. Neither Luke Skywalker nor Leia Organa Solo could be reached for comment."

"In other news, this year's Grifball season kicks off with a major controversy..."

Maul shut down the projector and looked at the female Mandalorian.

"So, the Jedi intend to track me down, once again." The Sith murmured.

"We have early warning systems in place, but most of our forces are unable to effectively fight Jedi."

"It matters not." Maul replied. "They will have no idea where to start looking. And because we are out among the Terminus Systems, the Jedi have no jurisdiction here. Nevertheless, stay on guard for the them... or anyone else."

The Sith Lord was about to leave when a Gran communication officer called.

"My Lord, Aria T'Loak sent a communique. She's demanding that you return to Omega, immediately."

Maul turned and exited the room, followed by Kast and her warriors.

"You're not going to answer her?" Kast asked, somewhat incredulously.

"I am not Aria's servant." Maul replied, his voice lowering significantly. "Prepare the Scimitar, we're going to Omega."

...

An hour later, on board the bridge of his flagship, Maul stood overlooking the officers working in the crew pits. Savage stood at his side, obviously perplexed at the whole situation.

"Brother, I do not understand. Why acquiesce to Aria's wishes?

"Because Aria does not know that we are coming." The Sith replied.

Before Savage could answer, the ship's captain approached the two Zabraks.

"My Lord, the course is set for Omega."

"Good." Maul replied. "Bring us out of hyperspace at the edge of the system and engage the cloaking device. I do not want Aria to be aware of my arrival until I want her to know."

"Yes, my Lord." The captain bowed and left.

Seconds later, the stars stretched as the vessel jumped into hyperspace, only to decant a minute later. Maul's staging area was just outside the system, meaning the journey was very short. As ordered, the Scimitar's cloaking device engaged, causing the Star Destroyer to vanish.

Maul smiled at the technological feat. When he had gained control of the Zann Consortium, he had ordered that the cloaking device on Tyber Zann's former flagship, _Merciless_, was to be salvaged and replaced on Maul's new flagship.

It was not nearly so effective when used against Republic and Separatist sensors, but it still provided the Sith with an edge against most other opponents. The fact that none of the defense ships around Omega reacted to his presence proved that their scanners were woefully ineffective.

Shaking off his musings, Maul watched as they approached Omega, the surrounding ships unaware of their presence. Reaching out with the Force, he could already sense the Pirate Queen's impatient presence on Omega.

Maul smirked. It was best not to keep Aria waiting.

* * *

Afterlife Club, Omega

Aria was furious. She knew that Darth Maul was going behind her back and gaining power and influence for himself. The most obvious solution would be to kill him. But that would also be counterproductive, as the Sith Lord had been responsible for giving her considerable clout due to the fact that it appeared he worked for her.

Maul had made himself indispensible to her, and that was pissing her off. But it also concerned her for a different reason. She knew Maul had his own agenda when he offered to work with her, but even at that meeting, she couldn't tell what it was.

Oh, he intended to depose her, that much was clear, but it was the how and why, she was still unclear on. And it was unclear as to whether that was his endgame, or if he had another goal in mind.

He had constructed a Zann Consortium Level V space station just outside the Omega system, fully armed and operational with a large fleet stationed nearby. Yet, she still didn't know the exact location of his new headquarters.

And now, it seemed he was deliberately ignoring her calls. Fuming on the inside, she nevertheless kept a neutral, almost bored expression on her face as she turned to her batarian lieutenant.

"Has there been any reply?" She questioned Bray. He knew what she meant.

"Nothing yet." The Batarian replied, somewhat nervously.

"Keep trying. And I want to know the minute he appears in-system."

"Then I'm sorry to disappoint you." A familiar voice appeared from the side of the booth as several guards and even Aria stiffened. "But I am not a slave at your beck and call."

Darth Maul walked up to the booth, once again escorted by his brother and a pair of Mandalorians. The guards raised their weapons in surprise, and even Aria jumped a little at the unexpected appearance of the Sith Lord.

"How did you get past my security?" Aria demanded, her voice outwardly calm and collected.

"Your guards are weak minded." Maul smirked. "It wasn't difficult. Now, why don't you explain to me what you want, and then we'll discuss whether I will do it."

The Pirate Queen glared at the Sith, trying to match his piercing glare with one of her own. She might as well have been trying to breathe in space. With an inaudible sigh, she relented and gestured for him to sit on her couch.

"There... is an Ardat-Yakshi on my station." Aria stated. "I want her gone, by any means necessary."

Maul raised an eyebrow.

"And you called me for that?" He asked dryly. "You don't have the means to deal with a lowly Ardat-Yakshi?"

"Consider this a test." The asari replied. "I want to see that you are capable of doing what you say you are. Of course, unless you're afraid..."

The slightly narrowed eyes were the only indication that her insult had any effect. Wordlessly, Maul stood up and walked back to his guards, pausing as he slightly turned his head towards her.

"She'll be dead by dawn."

And with that, Maul left the booth, he and his entourage making his way through the club as the terrified patrons moved out of the way. From her position, Aria watched the group leave with a neutral expression on her face.

She hadn't lied to him: she really did want to know what he was capable of. And more importantly, what his limitations were. She didn't expect the Ardat-Yakshi to be able to best him, but she would serve as the perfect 'yardstick,' to borrow a human term, to gauge his true abilities.

And if the Demon of the Night Winds _did_ manage to kill him, then it was one less obstacle in her way. Maul had been right, she could've easily had the other asari disposed of, but why waste an opportunity?

Settling down, she waited to see what would happen next.

* * *

"Brother, are you sure this is wise?" Savage asked. "That asari could just be lying to you-"

"She wasn't lying." Maul interjected. "There is an Ardat-Yakshi on the station, and she does want to test my abilities. The important thing is, she wants to test me for any weaknesses, which she will not find."

"My Lord," One Mandalorian entered the conversation. "how do you intend to locate this Ardat-Yakshi?"

"By using myself as bait." Maul replied. "Do you sense it, Savage? Do you feel this asari's presence?"

"Yes." Savage nodded. "She is weak."

"An Ardat-Yakshi gains more power from those she mates with. The more she feeds, the more she hungers."

"And she will be unable to resist you." Savage said, accepting the truth of those words.

"Precisely."

The entourage halted outside another Nightclub, just outside the front door.

"She is inside." The Sith stated, then turned to his brother. "Stay out of sight, all of you. Do not try to attack unless I give you the signal."

As soon as he got their acknowledgements, Darth Maul entered the structure of the night club alone, with nothing but a comlink and his lightsabers. Many of the patrons stared as he walked in, but when turned his gaze toward them, they found something else to look at.

Here, in this seedy bar, patrons only thought about drinking, gambling, and enjoying the company of the asari strippers. Maul was disgusted. He was far beyond such basic instincts.

Walking over to the bar, Maul took a seat and waited. Within seconds, he felt the asari's presence close in on him. Apparently, she desired his power so badly, that she was willing to forgo any sort of caution.

* * *

Terila watched as the Zabrak entered the shadowy bar, unable to resist the allure of his aura. She had come to Omega in the hopes of finding those with power and influence to join with, so she could grow in strength on her own.

When she heard that the famous Darth Maul had been seen frequently on Omega, well... words couldn't describe the anticipation she felt. The leader of the famous interdimensional crime syndicate would have a spectacular end, and given her strength, he would want her to kill him.

So after several months of feasting on weaklings, while simultaneously avoiding antagonising the Pirate Queen of Omega, she could finally lay her eyes on her quarry. She could almost feel the power radiating off him.

It was intoxicating. The rational part of her mind reminded her to be cautious, but he was so empowering that she didn't care in the slightest. Seducing the Sith Lord wouldn't be simple (especially with the lack of anything real below his torso), but it wouldn't matter.

Eventually, everyone succumbed.

* * *

Terila was actually surprised at how easy it was to convince the Zabrak Sith Lord to come with her. From all the rumors she had heard, the asari had expected that Maul would be more resistant to joining with her.

Instead, when she approached him at the bar, he had responded to her advances with surprising enthusiasm. Only a little coaxing was needed to convince him to come to her place. It shouldn't have been this easy, but then again, the Ardat-Yakshi was too ecstatic to care.

The most powerful figure in the criminal underworld was here. And he was all hers. The tattooed Zabrak was clearly under her thrall. Oh, he had put up a token resistance to her charms, but like everyone, he had succumbed in the end.

Now it was time to finish it. Taking a breath, she melded with him, to join his memories with hers, his power with hers. Except... there was nothing. Where she would normally feel their memories and experiences, there was nothing but... darkness.

And hatred.

And pain.

'What have I done?' The darkness overwhelmed her, and she came to on the floor, with blood pouring out of her nose. The sheer psionic backlash from the Zabrak would've killed an ordinary asari, and for her, it was agonizing.

"You thought you could control me?" The Sith Lord's voice echoed through the ringing in her head, tinged with amusement. "Turn me into another of your toys to play with and discard?"

Terila had made a grave mistake. She could see now that Maul had been toying with her, letting her believe she had the upper hand against him. In desperation, she tried to attack with biotics, but she suddenly found herself suffocating.

Just as she realized that he hadn't moved, she felt herself being lifted off the ground. She hung suspended a foot off the ground, still gasping for breath, futilely grasping at her neck, trying to remove whatever was choking her.

And with that, Maul started electrocuting her with bolts of Force Lightning, letting her screams be heard by everyone in the nearby area. The Ardat-Yakshi screamed in pure agony, as the Sith deliberately kept the electricity from being lethal.

After prolonging her suffering, the Zabrak hurled Terila out the window. She fell to the ground screaming, which mercifully cut out after she hit the pavement. At that moment, Savage entered the door of the apartment, while a pair of Mandalorians flew up to the shattered window.

"I believe it's time to tell Aria that her Ardat-Yakshi is no longer a problem."

* * *

Aria was shocked when Maul and his entourage reappeared in her club a few hours later. News had already reached her that indicated that the Ardat-Yakshi had been killed, but until the Sith walked back through the entrance, she hadn't believed it.

Now, it appeared that it was no longer in question. From what rumors she had heard, Maul had let the Ardat-Yakshi meld with him, but instead of what should have been a fatal mistake, had instead hurt the asari pseudo-vampire to the point where she had been weak.

Initially, Aria had been tempted to meld with the Sith Lord's mind at some point, or get one of her handmaidens to do so. Now she was glad that she didn't; if diving into Maul's mind had crippled an Ardat-Yakshi, then the sheer backlash would've probably killed any other asari!

Still, she wanted to be sure, so when the Sith returned, she condescendingly asked if he had any proof that the Ardat-Yakshi was dead. In hindsight, she should've already known the answer.

Maul smirked. "I believe this will be enough proof."

He gestured to Savage, who produced a small box and tossed it into Aria's hands. When the guards around her got a look at the contents, many of them felt sick. Bray nearly lost his lunch.

"Satisfied, Aria?"

When the asari nodded, Maul opened his mouth to say something else when his comlink started beeping. Pulling it out, the Zabrak's psychotic smirk somehow got even wider as he read the contents.

"What is it?" She demanded, to the Sith Lord's amusement.

"It appears that several other Cerberus bases have been located." Maul responded. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have some business to attend to."

With that said, he walked out of the booth, his guards falling in step behind him.

* * *

In the clinic that once belonged to the famous Professor, Mordin Solus, the activity was business as usual. Within the clinic, Maelon strode into an examination room, coming up to Daniel as he was looking over their patient.

"How is she?" The Salarian asked.

"She's stable." Daniel replied, looking at the readings on his omni-tool. "All vital signs are normal, and her wound has been healed."

"Already?" Maelon was confused. "That type of recovery is more often seen by Krogan."

"I know. But what's even stranger is that her body seems to be resisting the sedatives. I've already had to use more than one dose."

"Very unusual. How long before she wakes up?"

As if to answer the question, the bald and pale female humanoid's eyes opened and she sat up, breathing heavily, one arm reaching to the nearby table, looking for her weapons. Daniel saw this and rushed to her side.

"Whoa, take it easy. You're safe."

The woman put her hand to her face, as if recovering from a nightmare.

"How... how long was I out?" Her hoarse voice questioned. Daniel looked at Maelon, who answered:

"Three days. You've been recovering in the clinic for a while now."

"I have to leave." The female muttered, pulling the covers off her bed.

"You need to rest." Daniel protested. "You've suffered from a bullet wound and internal trauma. You're lucky to be alive right now."

She barked out a bitter laugh. "In my experience, there is no such thing as luck."

She got out of bed, casting the covers aside. Looking around, the woman seemed to be searching for something. Turning back to the two doctors, the question rose to her mind immediately.

"Where are my lightsabers?"

"Your... what-?"

"Your weapons are in our custody." Maelon interrupted. "They will be released to you once we determine your health."

Asajj Ventress stood up at her full height, grabbing her clothes from nearby before looking straight at the Salarian doctor.

"Give them to me." The Nightsister rasped, her eyes narrowed.

"We can't yet." Maelon protested. "You need more rest befor-!"

Whatever the Salarian doctor was going to say died in his throat when he felt himself being hurled against the wall. The Dathomirian Witch had her hands outstretched, pinning Maelon to the wall with an invisible force.

"Put him down!" Daniel ordered, backed up by several mechs with weapons pointed right at her.

Sighing, Ventress released her grip on Maelon before turning her full attention to Daniel.

"Does the name Darth Maul mean anything to you?" Daniel's wide eyes and suddenly pale complexion answered her question better than he ever could. "He and his brother want me dead, and if they know I live, they'll tear this place apart and kill everyone in it."

She walked up to Daniel, heedless of the mechs aiming at her.

"But if I leave, then your patients get to live." She crossed her arms. "The choice is yours."

...

Clad in her helmet and hood, with her lightsabers clipped to her waist, Ventress walked out of the door. Spinning around, she spared a glance at the gathering behind her. Maelon, Daniel, several mechs and a few bystanders stood there watching her leave.

Nobody said anything. The silence permeated the air, wrapping around the gathering like a glove. Eventually, Ventress nodded and walked away, leaving the clinic in peace once again.

* * *

Liara T'Soni sat in her office and sighed. Her investigations into who had funded the return of Cerberus were still bearing little fruit. Even with the more advanced information hardware that had been installed in this station, her network still paled in comparison to Republic Intelligence and Separatist Intelligence. And because of this, trying to slip agents into the organization that was her main suspect, had been proving extremely difficult.

She could safely assume that the Republic and Separatist agents had managed to infiltrate the higher levels of this organization, but whether or not they knew anything was still undetermined. She had put in a request for Republic intel, but so far had gotten nothing back.

That meant that either the Republic knew and wasn't sharing for whatever reason, or that even Republic Intel couldn't find it. Neither option filled Liara with much comfort. Sighing, the young asari chose to put the Empire of the Hand's request on the back burner for the time being, and decided to check in on her other project. That was when Glyph approached, right on time.

"Dr. T'Soni, how may I be of assistance?"

"What's the word on the agents we sent to infiltrate the Shadow Collective?" She asked.

"They have yet to report back." Glyph stated. "Just like the last group. And our information has shown that other intelligence agencies are suffering similar dilemnas."

Liara frowned at that news. She had already known that sneaking agents into close proximity with any significantly trained Force user was unlikely to bear any real results, but she had to try. Attempts with the Jedi had proven fruitless, as they always seemed to know when they were being spied upon, and subtly made sure that any attempts to hear more secretive Jedi meetings ended in failure.

Apparently, the Sith Lord couldn't even be bothered to be subtle about it. In all likelihood, Liara's agents were dead... or worse.

"Should we dispatch another team?" Glyph asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

"No. Pull our teams back." She said, shaking her head. "I'm not losing any more agents until we can find a way to insure that Darth Maul can't detect them."

"As you wish, Doctor." Glyph said, then immediately vanished.

As Liara sat alone in her office, her thoughts drifted to Shepard, and how long it had been since she had seen him. The two of them still kept in contact, and even met up when they could, but not nearly as much as either would like.

Though both would've loved to settle down together after the Reaper war (and for a very brief time, they did just that), the subsequent events in the multiverse had ultimately brought them out of retirement and put their plans on hold. It was just as well; Liara didn't even know what she would do with herself, and though he would never admit to anyone besides her, she knew that Shepard felt the same.

Stifling a yawn, Liara sat back at her desk and returned to work.

* * *

Cronos Station II

The Illusive Man sat in his chair, smoking a cigarette while waiting for the call from his benefactor. He didn't have to wait long. The hologram of a middle-aged human female appeared on the projector.

"What is it now, Harper?" She demanded, with a hint of boredom in her voice.

The Illusive Man inwardly flinched at the use of his real name, but remained outwardly calm on the outside.

"I need more funding and manpower for Cerberus operations." He responded. "Between the Shadow Collective and the forces of the IDA, our operations are getting hammered."

"More men and resources are being rerouted as we speak." She coldly said. "If you lose these resources Harper, then Cerberus won't survive for very long."

He didn't miss the dual meaning of her words. Even if Cerberus survived, she would make sure that he would not. And she was the only reason Cerberus had been reconstituted in the first place.

"Should we not try to recruit more powerful allies?" The Illusive Man asked, guiding the conversation to safer territory. "Like the Republic Supreme Commander or Separatist Ruler. With their power, we-"

"Don't even think about it." She snapped. "If they get reason to focus on Cerberus, they will tear your operations apart in an instant!"

It was the first sign of fear he had ever seen from her. She was normally so calm and collected, despite the occasional spike of anger that emerged on her visage. But the single mention of the two alleged gods was enough to elicit the tiniest hint of fear. She immediately noticed this, and the mask of ice cold calculation reasserted itself once more.

"Leave those two out of this." She commanded. "We'll find a way to deal with them in due time. For now, we focus on other efforts."

Taking a breath, she addressed the next item on the agenda.

"Now, what's the report on the xenomorph control program?"

The Illusive Man knew that she already knew the answer, but sighed and capitulated anyway.

"We've tried all that we could, but nothing works. Reaper Indoctrination techniques have no effect, same with injecting them with control chips or Husk technolgy. That either kills the specimens, or their blood just destroys them before they can hope to take control."

"Yes, that's common knowledge about them." She replied. "So, why are your science teams doing these experiments from scratch?! We should be learning from Weyland-Yutani's early mistakes, not repeating them!"

"Unfortunately, our... scientists are not the best humanity has to offer."

"I'm not surprised, considering your previous purges prior to the Reaper war. Regardless, if their stupidity is because of their exposure to Reaper technology, then they all need to be removed."

"I will keep that in mind." The Illusive Man hesitated. "Of course... some of your technology could be helpful-"

"Harper, Harper, Harper." She chuckled. "Always so greedy."

"This is our best chance!" He protested. "Between your technology and the xenomorphs, we can put humanity on top of the food chain!"

"So short-sighted as well." She sighed. "Look around, you idiot. Humanity is dominant in the multiverse. And look at you: You've caused the deaths of thousands of innocent humans for short-sighted research projects, committed terror acts against the very government that represents humanity, murdered dozens of the most brilliant scientists for making mistakes and alienated your greatest assets into working against you. And this is before you started playing with Reaper tech! For all your claims of putting humanity's interests first, you've only cared about your own personal power and petty revenge goals."

The Illusive Man felt like he had just been slapped in the face. Her sharp rebuke had cut through some of his most fervently held beliefs. With a start, he realized that everything she said was true.

"I... concede your point." He said, eyes lowered slightly. "But the primary disruption to our operations still come from the Shadow Collective, and it's only a matter of time before the forces of the IDA get involved."

"Leave the IDA to me." She said. "I'll make sure that they stay out of your operations."

The Illusive Man still doubted she was capable of that, but kept any misgivings to himself.

"And what do we do about Darth Maul?" He asked.

"I have a little something that can take care of him." She replied. "All you need to do, is set up the bait, then my forces can move in and retrieve him."

"You intend to take him alive?" He asked, surprised.

"If it's possible." She shrugged. "If not, then I'm not wasting my forces on such foolish attempts. Just pick somewhere to draw him in."

"As it just so happens," He took a sip of his drink and smirked. "I have just the place."

* * *

Cad Bane sat in the middle of his small hideout, hidden in some old ruins on a forgotten planet in the Outer Rim. Having gained a considerable amount of money from his previous jobs, the Duros decided a small break was in order.

He had used that time to make sure all his bounty hunting equipment was in good shape, performed some maintenance on his vehicles, and made sure the BX-series droid commandos he had gained would follow his commands without any hidden directives.

It wasn't that he didn't trust the Sith Lord... actually, no that was the exact reason. Even during the Clone Wars, Bane had never trusted Darth Sidious, Count Dooku, or any other Force-user, and he certainly wasn't going to start now. Granted, he never trusted anyone, but still he trusted Force sensitives even less.

It was because of this distrust that when one of the perimeter alarms around his base went off, he immediately assumed that forces of the Shadow Collective had followed him. Grabbing his weapons, the bounty hunter moved towards the door seconds before there was a loud flash, followed by the door disintegrating.

Lying on the ground, Bane got up into a sitting position, and through the blurry vision, he saw two black armored figures rushing through the entryway, with weapons trained on the prone Duros.

"Cad Bane, you are wanted for piracy and murder." One of the soldiers said. "Surrender now, and we might go easy on you."

"Not a chance in hell!" Bane yelled and opened fire.

A pair of blaster bolts emerged from his blaster pistols, striking both black armored assailants head on. But instead of falling, the shots were absorbed by a silver-ish energy field that enveloped both soldiers.

The second barrage missed as the two soldiers dove into cover, while Bane himself rose to his feet and moved away. In response, the droid commandos moved to protect their master, only for one to fall when a three round burst slammed into the machine's head.

To Bane's surprise (and fear), the automata dissolved into amber coloured ash. There were only three factions who had personal energy shields and disintegrating weapons as standard; the Republic, the Separatists and the UNSC. And judging from the ODST helmets worn by his two attackers, it was the latter.

"Fierfek."

Pressing a button on his gauntlet, the bounty hunter called the rest of his droid commandos to the foyer, just as more ODSTs burst through the walls. Despite their best efforts, the droids were outmatched by the experienced UNSC soldiers and their advanced weaponry. Though they hadn't quite been able to fully recreate hard light weapons, the UNSC had been able to create ammunition for their pre-existing weaponry that mimicked the effects of Forerunner weaponry, which proved exceptionally useful during the Great Flood War.

Now, it was turning his rather expensive droid warriors into ash.

Growling in anger, Bane hurled a smoke grenade into the midst of his attackers, followed by activating the jets built into his boots and taking off toward the escape hatch in the ceiling. His hope that the smoke would disorient the UNSC special forces was smashed when tracer rounds doggedly pursued him, with too much accuracy for it to be blind firing.

Thankfully, the Duros bounty hunter emerged onto the roof unscathed, and dropped a thermal detonator down into the middle of his base. Not wishing to waste time, Bane jetted away, heading straight for the fighter that he had hidden some distance away.

In the last one stretch, Bane landed and made his way toward the fighter at a dead sprint. He was less than a hundred meters away when an ODST decloaked in front of him. Before the Duros could react, the stock of a battle rifle struck him in the face, sending him to the ground and knocking his hat askew.

The bounty hunter's vision swam as the armored soldier loomed over him. The last thing Cad Bane saw was an armored boot stomping on his face.


	11. Cerberus' Master

In orbit of Unknown Planet

A secret facility within the Terminus Systems, the Barn was considered to be one of the most vital facilities of Cerberus. The advanced labratories within had produced some of their most effective military technology during the Reaper War, and as a result of that, it had become an early target for a joint task force of the Systems Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy.

Over the years, the station had remained, gutted and abandoned, but since the revival of the human-supremacist organization, reconstruction had been completed at a record pace and the facility had been reactivated once more.

Knowing that the Barn was crucial to restoring Cerberus' war effort, General Petrovsky had stationed a fleet of Cerberus cruisers at the station. It was the largest concentration of their naval forces outside of the Illusive Man's headquarters.

Despite their training, the captains in charge of defending the station couldn't help but feel very confident about their position. After all, no one knew about this place, and even if they did, the advanced defenses would tear them apart. Because of this, even the Director of the Barn felt a sense of superiority and confidence in Cerberus' rise.

That confidence was shattered when a fleet of Shadow Collective warships emerged from hyperspace. It was immediately followed by the appearance of a combined force of Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse warships. The Cerberus forces were outnumbered two to one, and their main opponents had much more powerful technology and weapons than they did.

The result would be a massacre.

Aggressor-class Destroyers unleashed their opening salvos, the spiraling ion shots stopped six Cerberus cruisers in their tracks, leaving them helpless to the follow up plasma shots. In less than ten seconds, half a dozen Cerberus cruisers had been reduced to debris fields.

Keldabe-class battleships and Interceptor-IV and Vengeance-class frigates hunted down the remaining cruisers, with their energy blasts ignoring kinetic barriers. Enraged, the Cerberus frigate screen unleashed a swarm of Javelin disrupter torpedos, which were easily countered by the anti-missile systems of the Crusader-class corvettes. The main Shadow Collective otherwise ignored the Cerberus frigates, opting to let the Blue Suns, Blood Pack and Eclipse battle fleets handle them.

A single Cerberus dreadnought held back out of range of the battle, watching as their mighty fleet was wiped out by a rag tag military force composed of criminals. Furious, the ship's captain gave the order to target the Collective flagship, the Imperial-class Star Destroyer _Scimitar_.

With a subdued roar, the slug soared across the void, striking the Star Destroyer at center mass. Rather than tearing through the hull, like the captain hoped, the particle shields halted the shot in its tracks.

A second slug followed the first, but still the shields held firm. Unfortunately for the dreadnought, it would have no chance to fire a third shot. Having registered the nuisance, the _Scimitar_ fired a volley of turbolaser blasts, which chewed through the ship's armor and disabled most critical systems. A second volley tore through the drive core, causing a chain reaction that consumed the ship in a massive fireball.

More weapon fire lit up the night sky as the station itself engaged the opposing Shadow Collective task force. Squadrons of Cerberus fighters and intercepters moved to strike the massive capital ships, but were drawn into a dogfight with a wing of StarViper-class attack platforms. This allowed squadrons of Skipray Blastboats the opportunity to bomb the turrets on the Barn. The superior weapons of the Zann Consortium were making short work of the Cerberus defenses, leaving the prize wide open.

The large space station hung in the void, defenses being destroyed by pinpoint volleys of laser fire. Meanwhile, several Dekard transports hurtled through the void, carrying boarding parties to their destination.

* * *

Locus sat in the transport bay, surrounded in a sea of armor. Felix was beside him, the two mercenaries standing out in the crowd of Mandalorians. Their target was a Cerberus research station called the Barn. It was rumored to be manufacturing cutting edge technology and weaponry for Cerberus to use.

Locus frowned at that thought. Something about this whole thing seemed off. From what intelligence had been gained, Cerberus was approaching their strength levels of the Reaper War, and were currently being challenged solely by the Shadow Collective, which had a lot of military strength in their own right.

However, it seemed like no one else in the IDA had noticed. Sure it was possible that the human-supremacist organization could have returned quietly, but they announced their revival rather loudly when they broke Oleg Petrovsky out of prison.

And yet, no one seemed to care. STG alone should have been hunting them down, and Galactic Alliance Intelligence would have been committing resources to find them. Even ONI seemed to have missed this, and yet they were the premier intelligence agency in the IDA. Not to mention the Republic and Separatist intelligence forces (though to be fair, they likely had more important things to worry about).

Locus turned to look at the hologram of their current employer. Did Darth Maul know something about this? He seemed to have more knowledge about these events than he was letting on. Locus was a soldier, never one to question orders, but his mind still wandered.

His wandering mind was interrupted when the transport latched onto the side of the station. Cutting equipment tore a hole through the armored hull, throught which several squads of Black Sun and Zann Consortium mercenaries entered.

They were caught in a crossfire of Cerberus assault troopers, Guardians, Centurions and Phantoms, yet slowly but surely, they pushed their way through. Locus led a group of mercs into the station hallways, putting bullets and blaster fire through the heads of any defender.

Meanwhile, his partner took the lead, killing his way through the station. Rounding a corner, Felix had just enough time to put up his light shield before the Engineer-built turrets opened fire, mowing down several Collective soldiers before the rest found cover.

"Grenadiers!" Locus yelled. "Take those turrets out!"

The resulting explosions tore through the Cerberus ranks, sending body parts flying everywhere. The next barrage of blaster fire and bullets took the remaing soldiers out of the picture.

A lone Cerberus assault trooper hid in the shadows, praying he wouldn't be spotted. Unfortunately for him, Felix noticed and hurled his combat knife through the assault trooper's skull.

"Damn, this is fun." The orange armored figure laughed, bending down and retrieving his knife.

"Let's move." Locus interrupted. "We have to regroup with Lord Maul."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Felix muttered as he followed the boarding party down the passage. "Buzzkill."

* * *

Darth Maul walked through the halls of the Barn, letting his Death Watch shock troops take the lead during this raid. He wasn't opposed to getting his hands dirty, but he knew when to fight smart and let those with more experience take the lead.

A hellish barrage of Death Watch fire sent several assault troopers falling to the ground, screaming in agony as they desperately tried to douse the flames. Blaster bolts immediately silenced them as Maul walked through the devastation, giving the red and black tattooed Zabrak a demonic appearance.

The Sith smiled as he sensed his brother on the other side of the station. The Nightbrother was leading the assault through the barracks and motor pool, no doubt slaughtering his way through the unprepared Cerberus soldiers.

If all went according to plan, the two Zabraks would meet up at the station's command center, kill the Director and remove anything of value from within. After that, the Sith intended on finding the Illusive Man and scattering his remains across the multiverse. Once that once done... well Maul figured that a conversation with Cerberus' new benefactors was in order.

But he was getting ahead of himself. Drawing upon the dark side of the Force, the Zabrak propelled himself into the formation of Cerberus soldiers, cutting through them with contemptuous ease.

A squad of Guardians blocked their path, providing cover for other varieties of Cerberus troops. The thick shields of the Guardians were enough to provide protection against blasterfire, but Maul removed that advantage with the Force, tearing the shields from their hands.

Now defenseless, the remaining Cerberus forces were gunned by the Shadow Collective. Maul watched for a moment as his troops took care of the stragglers, before leading his forces toward what the soldiers had been protecting: a vault marked 'X1.' If Cerberus was willing to put so much security for something, then it would be worth investigating.

With a psychotic smirk, the Sith carved a hole through the thick metal door before entering the vault.

* * *

On the other side of the station, Savage had finished leading the slaughter through the unprepared Cerberus soldiers that had been stationed in the barracks, and now his group was in the storage area for the station's vehicles.

There wasn't all that much there, to be honest: some Mako tanks, Atlas mechs and a few fighters that were in for repair, but the Cerberus forces were attempting to make use of the ordnance they already had to beat back the Shadow Collective.

Unfortunately for them, the Zann Consortium had a few grenadiers and heavy weapons specialists, who blew most of the vehicles apart before Cerberus even had a chance of getting them operational again.

Add to the fact that the Death Watch warriors were all walking armories, and the forces were crushed in short order under a hail of blasterfire, mini-rockets, thermal detonaters and waves of flame.

Miraculously, one assault trooper was able to activate an Atlas mech, the walker's own ordnance forced the Shadow Collective to take cover. Rather than let his troops have all the fun, Savage ordered them to stay in cover, while he charged the mech.

The pilot noticed the Nightbrother's charge and let loose a salvo of autocannon shots, but Force assisted reflexes enabled Savage to easily avoid the bolts. The Atlas then fired a missile, but the Zabrak caught it with the Force and hurled it back, which exploded on the kinetic barriers.

Now inside the mech's defense, Savage cut off the arm that held the cannon before ducking underneath a clumsy claw strike. Leaping into the air, the Zabrak landed on top of the mech before plunging a lightsaber blade straight through the glass and into the pilot's chest.

As the now useless Atlas slumped over, Savage was already on the move, gesturing to his men to follow him deeper into the Barn. They had a rendezvous to keep with his brother, and besides, there was more killing to do.

* * *

Out in the void of space, the Shadow Collective warships hung in the vacuum, alert for any threats. Though the Cerberus vessels had been defeated, the criminal army was still wary that reinforcements may arrive, or that the terrorist organization may have hidden traps among the asteroids or on the planet.

Scanning crews were on alert for any signs of stealth that Cerberus was capable of creating, which is why they never noticed as the more advanced cloaked vessel glided through their formation until coming to a halt behind the station.

Out of view from the Shadow Collective, the vessel dropped its invisibility, revealing a small grey ship. Less than two hundred meters long, the ship's aesthetics were rather stocky, but at the same time, it almost looked like a bird of prey.

Maneuvering until it's boarding hatch connected with the Barn's hull, the ship cut it's way through, allowing several black armored figures to enter the vessel, while the final one was clad in green armor and was considerably taller and bulkier than the others.

"You know the mission." The squad leader said. "We have confirmation that Darth Maul and Savage Opress are on this station. We want to take that Sith and his brother alive if possible. If not, then make sure they never leave."

The black and green armored soldiers made their way through the heart of the Cerberus station, ready to cut their way through the criminals until they found the man they sought. After that, his fate was up in the air.

* * *

"I must say I'm impressed." A smug voice oozed over the intercom, one that could only belong to the station's Director. "You've managed to break past our security measures and penetrated our most secure vaults. Pity you will only find your doom against the hands of our ultimate weapons."

Maul ignored the snide voice, focusing his attention on fighting this so-called 'ultimate weapons.' Several genetically modified krogan armed with implanted weaponry of all sorts, each designated as X1. With a single flip, the Sith decapitated one of the monstrous abominations with a wide swing of his lightsaber.

"Ultimate weapons?" Maul snorted. "I've yet to be impressed."

His troops seemed to agree, as the Death Watch warriors just put them down with blaster fire, flamethrowers and toxic darts, into the remaining X1's, killing them all with a major sense of boredom.

With the disappointment of what was in this X1 vault, the Sith Lord directed his forces back towards the station's command center, slaughtering their way through Cerberus troopers as they went.

Arriving at the barracks, Maul was pleased to find Savage and his forces slaughtering his way through the unprepared Cerberus forces. As the Sith watched, his brother unleashed a massive Force shockwave that sent the bulk of the Cerberus forces flying, killing a dozen of them through the impact alone.

The remainder of them were taken care of by the soldiers, leaving the Sith to clean up the stragglers. As the fighting died down, Locus and Felix arrived and looked over the carnage that surrounded them.

"Damn." The orange merc muttered. "We missed one hell of a party."

Locus glared at him, but said nothing, instead choosing to address the two Zabraks.

"Sir, the Eastern wing of the station is clear. All Cerberus forces have been terminated."

"Well done." Maul replied. "Gather everyone and head to the control center. We will take this station and cripple Cerberus' operations throughout the sector."

...

Ten minutes later, a large force of Shadow Collective warriors had gathered around the nerve center of the Barn. The best soldiers were gathered in a few squads led by Maul, Savage, Locus and Felix, ready to breach into the control center and take what was there.

The Sith Lord could already sense the stench of fear emenating from the control room: It was impossible to hide that most of the Cerberus forces had been defeated. But Maul wasn't concerned about their alertness. In fact, he reveled in their terror.

With a loud flash, the breaching charges tore through the Cerberus enhanced blast doors, stunning all the guards in the control room. In the confusion, Locus and Felix led the breaching teams, shooting the few guards as well as any of the non-Reaper enhanced operators at their stations.

By the time the Sith Lord and his brother walked in, the battle was over and the only surviving Cerberus official was the station Director. He was currently on his knees with his hands behind his head, blasters pointed at him. One look at the two Zabraks sent all the color draining from his face.

"So, you are the Director of this facility." Maul rhetorically stated. "I expected more from one who controlled so much."

"Please!" The Director begged, all sense of confidence gone. "I'll tell you anything you want to know! Just please, don't kill me!"

"Really?" Maul sardonically asked. "Then tell me; where is the Illusive Man?"

"I-I don't know!" The man sputtered. "He constantly moves his station at random periods."

"Thank you, Director obvious." The Sith snarked. "Now, do you have anything _useful_ to tell me?"

The Director's mouth worked silently, as he was clearly trying to think of something that would save his skin. However, he was interrupted by a voice coming from a soldier looking over the nearby consoles.

"Sir, we've found all the information in the databanks." A Mandalorian reported from the nearby control console.

"Download it immediately." Maul ordered, before turning back to the cowardly Director. "I'm afraid there's no reason to keep you alive."

Looking at his brother, the Sith gave a small nod and Savage drew his lightsaber. The cowardly Cerberus stooge whimpered and a dark stain appeared on his trousers as Savage raised his lightsaber. Maul didn't bother waiting to see his brother's results, having more important things to look at. Turning to his field commanders, the Zabrak addressed them.

"Is the station secure?" One Black Sun commander stepped forward.

"We've taken over ninety percent of the station." The Falleen reported, pulling out a holoprojector. "Hunter-killer teams are taking care of the remaining stragglers."

It was at that moment when one of said hunter-killer teams called in.

"All units, we've got heavy resistance in the research lab! Requesting immediate assistance!"

The Falleen commander frowned at this. There shouldn't be any surviving defenders in that area of the station, so where did they come from? Wary of the Sith's narrowing eyes, the Black Sun officer quickly keyed his own comlink.

"Echo squad, this is command. Where did these defenders come from?"

"Hell if I know, sir." Came the reply. "It seems like the station got some more visitors."

At that, the commanders were confused, and so was Maul. From what it sounded like, someone else had shown up and boarded the station, which should've been impossible with the Shadow Collective fleet nearby.

"Is it Cerberus?" The Black Sun commander asked for clarification.

"No sir, it looks like UNSC ODSTs. They're a small squad holding an entrenched- wait a sec- Fierfek, they've got a Spartan with them!" Everyone froze when they heard that report. Even Maul felt his blood run cold at the prospect of fighting a Spartan. Still, he had to keep control. Activating his own comlink the Sith Lord gave the orders.

"Heavy weaponry is authorized." He said to everyone, but specifically to the Mandalorians. "Collateral damage is a secondary concern. Take that Spartan down."

"Lord Maul!" Locus called, with an uncharacteristic note of panic in his voice. "If the UNSC is here, they may have a Prowler nearby!"

Maul's eyes widened as he realized the implications of Locus' statement. Activating his comlink, he sent out a message to the entire fleet.

"All ships, retreat from the station!" The Sith shouted. "UNSC forces are preparing-!"

He never finished the sentence. All of a sudden, the station was rocked by a massive explosion, sending many of the occupants to the ground. Several lights went out as power fluctuations spread throughout the Barn. When everything settled, Savage and Maul were the first to recover, moving towards a nearby window in the control room, shortly followed by recovering troops.

"Fierfek." Someone cursed.

The Shadow Collective fleet was in tatters. Where there had once been a proud flotilla of underworld capital ships, thanks to a dozen stealth nuclear mines, there remained only a cloud of debris and scattered ships. The combined mercenary fleet had taken the bulk of the losses, but the more advanced Zann Consortium warships had taken considerable damage from the surprise attack.

Many of the Zann Consortium warships were now just drifting hulks, as escape pods erupted from the ships. As for Maul's flagship, the _Scimitar _had vanished completely, though whether it was cloaked, hyperspaced or destroyed was unclear at the moment. However, blue-incandescent rips in spacetime appeared, the precursor to the arrival of a small task force of UNSC ships.

It was a small fleet, consisting primarily of UNSC frigates and destroyers, but they were more than enough to handle the Shadow Collective fleet at full strength. And with the previous nuclear explosions, they just had to mop up the remains.

Sabre and Broadsword fighters made a beeline for the Barn, unleashing pinpoint salvos of weapon fire that destroyed all the boarding craft that the Shadow Collective had used to get on board. The fighters were followed by flights of Pelicans, no doubt carrying boarding teams of their own. Within ten minutes, the station would be overrun with UNSC marines, ODSTs and SPARTAN-IV fireteams.

Meanwhile, Maul and Savage felt a growing sense of dread as they realized just how badly they had stumbled into this trap. This had clearly been set up from the start, in order to remove the brothers from the equation. And now with UNSC forces closing in, the remaining Shadow Collective boarders would have to contend with battle hardened soldiers equipped with advanced technology, not to mention the supersoldier already on board.

"What now, brother?" Savage asked, his voice shaking slightly.

For once, Darth Maul was at a loss for words. He was surrounded, cut off from his forces and boxed in by some of the best warriors the UNSC had to offer, not to mention an entire fleet. The Zabrak was not one prone to give into despair, but it was starting to seem like a good time for it. Suddenly, he got a signal on his wrist comlink: consisting only of seemingly random beeps, Maul nevertheless smiled grimly as he realized that there was now a way to escape.

"Get to the escape pod banks!" The Sith ordered after a moment's hesitation. "We need to get off station immediately."

Activating his comlink, he relayed the same orders to the rest of the forces who began moving towards the pods. But as they closed in, it was clear that the UNSC special ops team on board at already figured out their plans, as panicked reports of hostiles emerged from the mercenary frequencies.

"Where are they?! Where-?!"

"Shit! The LT's down!"

"I didn't sign up for this! I'm not getting paid enough to fight a fucking Spartan!"

"Get back here soldier! You hear me?! Get-ACK!"

As the two Zabraks and their escorts reached the source the disturbance, they could hear just how bad it was. But as they rounded a corner, even the Nightbrothers were horrified at the sheer carnage that awaited them.

Blasterfire and bullets lanced through the air, the former striking several ODSTs and the Spartan. They were immediately halted by golden energy barriers that sprung up around each soldier. Several Mandalorians cursed; unlike kinetic barriers, hard light barriers and energy shields were more than capable of blocking energy weapons, and the UNSC had those as standard issue for all their soldiers. The hard light barriers used by ODSTs and lesser UNSC troops were not as strong as those used by the Republic and Separatists, but it was enough to absorb several blaster bolts before breaking.

Meanwhile, the UNSC weapons had been upgraded with Forerunner technology, giving it similar abilities to weaponized hard light: Several soldiers (including Death Watch warriors) fell victim to the advanced technology, the enhanced rounds piercing through armor with ease and reducing it and their wearers to ash. Morale fell as the mercenaries bore witness to such a horrifying display, most of which could be laid at the hands of the Spartan supersoldier.

No one was sure if it was male or female, but either way, the armored monstrosity was tearing through the mercenaries with contemptuous ease. Before the Zabrak's eyes, most of his surviving army had been wiped out by the small UNSC force.

"Fall back!" Maul shouted. "Back to the atrium!"

The surviving mercenaries retreated in a haphazard fashion, some getting picked off as they made their disorganized escape. In spite of the casualties, the Sith Lord knew that the only way to take their opponents out would be to ambush them as they followed. The Shadow Collective forces barely had enough time to set up the room before the UNSC appeared, with Locus taking a prime sniping position on a balcony, while Felix hid on the wall just over the entrance where the UNSC forces were due to arrive. Meanwhile, the rest of the criminals set up barricades and defensive positions, leaving only one entrance for the UNSC to come through. All they had to do was wait.

As it turned out, they didn't have to wait long.

Just as predicted, the green and black clad supersoldier appeared, charging through the entrance at breakneck speeds while gunning down anyone who stuck their heads out. At the same time, the soldier sent potshots at the two Zabraks, who barely managed to block each shot with their lightsabers.

The Shadow Collective retaliated with overwhelming blaster fire, much of which was wildly inaccurate, but the sheer volume would insure that enough hits would break through the Spartan's shields, which forced the green-armored soldier to take cover behind some overturned furniture.

The volume of fire turned towards the makeshift cover, as blaster bolts began to chew away at it. Within seconds, the Spartan would have no cover to protect him (or her), which galvanized the mercs considerably. Unfortunately, they failed to realize that the Spartan was actually a distraction.

From within the hallway, the ODSTs emerged and took aim, sending their own accurate shots which killed any mercenaries unlucky enough to be caught with their heads out in the open. The organized weapon fire slackened off as the room became a free fire zone. No longer pinned in place, the supersoldier rose up and continued its campaign of brutally efficient killing.

From his hiding point over the UNSC position, Felix leapt at the Spartan from behind with a knife, but the armored giant sent the merc flying with a backhand strike. Focusing on the two brothers in front of him as the biggest threat, the Spartan lowered its weapon and charged forward, unleashing a flurry of blows at the massive Nightbrother, knocking him off balance.

Locus grimaced at the sight, and retreated to a safer location. He knew of the fighting skills of the Meta and Carolina, and he knew they were undeniably impressive (and that was before the Separatists had upgraded them). But these supersoldiers were the UNSC's best for a reason, and right now, Felix was lucky to be alive. Though Locus still wished that he wasn't.

Locus was shaken from his musings when a trio of bullets lanced into his side, causing him to cry out in pain. Taking cover behind a nearby wall, the grey and green armored merc held his hand to the wound in an effort to stem the flow of blood.

With a cry of rage, Savage charged the Spartan, lightsaber spinning in a deadly twirl of energy as the Nightbrother hacked and slashed, while the UNSC supersoldier deftly avoided every strike. Eventually, Savage managed to land a meaningful blow, his lightsaber cutting the Spartan's battle rifle in two. In response, the Spartan rammed his knee into Savage's chest, knocking the wind out of him, before hurling the stunned Nightbrother over their shoulder and into the wall.

Maul tried to use the distraction as an oppurtunity to attack, but an armored kick landed in his midsection, sending the Sith Lord flying back into a wall. The impact broke several ribs and had it not been for Maul's skill in the Force, he would have been dead.

Stretching out his awareness, he knew that Savage was not faring any better. The Spartan may have been disarmed of his ranged weapons, but Savage was recieving a serious beating.

Then again, why would they be doing well? The two brothers may be powerful, but the UNSC Spartans are considered the best warriors in the IDA and for good reason. Jedi, Sith, it didn't matter. They would kill any of them with ease. Maul had heard people occasionally call him a demon. But the Spartans had earned that title. They were death incarnate.

The only beings who were more dangerous were the Republic and Separatist special forces and their superpowered allies, but even they didn't have this level of psychological impact. That said, it was unlikely this one was trying to kill them. The UNSC super soldiers were nothing if not pragmatic, so if they had wanted Maul dead, he would be dead. Which meant only one thing.

They were trying to take the brothers alive.

The Spartan across from him drew a Sangheili energy sword, no doubt a trophy from a previous mission. The armored warrior lunged at him, leaving Maul with barely enough time to deflect the blade with his own sabers.

Death Watch soldiers came to protect their master, firing on the armored giant and the ODSTs with him. Shrugging off the blaster bolts, the super soldier retrieved a sidearm and shot them, putting bullets in the T-shaped visors. Then, the Forerunner derived hard light-like weaponry of the kinetic bolts pierced through the Mandalorian iron like tissue paper. Maul's best warriors were being massacred by one being.

For a moment, the Sith got lost in deja vu during his time with the Gravemind; watching Dark Samus slaughter her way past dozens of Republic soldiers as if they were a minor annoyance. Like her, the Demon before him now slaughtered his best soldiers with ease.

Rather than demoralize him, this observation galvanized the Zabrak into action. The Dark Hunter alone was a far more dangerous threat than this Spartan could ever be, and he had escaped her, and hurt her master in the process when the Shadow Collective targeted the Brethren Moons. He had fought against some of the best and deadliest warriors in the Republic and the Separatists, and lived to tell the tale. He would survive against this Spartan as well.

The Sith was brought out of his reverie when Savage sent a Force Push at the Spartan with enough power to send a krogan through the wall. The armored soldier only flew back four feet before skidding to a halt, and charged right at the Nightbrother.

Maul grimaced as he helped his brother; the Force was not nearly as effective against beings from other universes. Against the universe of the Citadel species, there was little difference, same with the GF universe. But the Forerunner universe was a different story: when the Force was used against the inhabitants of that universe, there was a noticable difference. Even Mind tricks had little effect on the Jiralhanae. But the biggest shock came from the Spartans. Whatever augmentations had been done to them had the unintended side effect of making them heavily Force resistant. Combined with the fact that each Spartan weighed at least half a ton, and it was no surprise that telekinesis barely slowed them down (whether from the Force or Biotics).

Wounded and in pain, the brothers used that agony to fuel their connection to the Dark Side of the Force. Reaching out, instead of attempting to directly affect the Spartan, they grabbed every piece of debris around them and hurled them at the UNSC lines.

The ODSTs went back into cover, but the Supersoldier took the worst of it, taking a full barrage of metal moving at high speeds, eventually causing the shields to collapse. This was the oppurtunity they needed; while Savage kept up the pressure with thrown objects, Maul sent a stream of Force Lightning at the armored behemoth, finally forcing the Demon to retreat.

As the Spartan fell back to the UNSC lines, the two Zabraks called upon the Force once more, letting the pain from their injuries fuel their rage as the two Force users grabbed the balconies and brought them down on the UNSC lines. The Spartan and ODSTs made it back into the hallway seconds before the debris hit where they had been moments ago. With a brief respite, the two Zabraks took stock of the survivors and their injuries.

There were few survivors, most of them Mandalorian, while Locus was supporting Felix while simultaneously clutching his own side as blood leaked out. Maul and Savage had sustained severe injuries, and were only being sustained by adrenaline and the Dark Side. All the survivors had battered armor and weapons, and had sustained various injuries of their own.

"We're leaving!" The Sith shouted, gaining the attention of everyone else.

Then the comms reactivated as some of the scattered mercenaries made themselves known that they were still trapped in other areas of the station. Some were still fighting the Cerberus stragglers, but then an even more unpleasent report wafted through the air.

"Sir, we've got boarding parties!" Someone shouted over the radio. "There are more Spartans with them! We need- gak!"

The radio went silent. Then muffled thumps began to make themselves known from behind the debris and makeshift fortifications.

"To the escape pods!" Maul shouted, watching as explosions began tearing through the barricades. "NOW!"

The battered Shadow Collective troops ran through the halls of the Barn, some pausing on occasion only to lay down suppressing fire against the UNSC Marines, ODSTs and Spartan-IVs that were reinforcing their comrades. The rest just ran.

Few made it to the escape ships. Maul and Savage leapt into one while Locus and Felix made it to another. Besides them, a few scattered mercenaries made it in time, while everyone else was cut down before they could reach it. As soon as his brother was aboard, Maul didn't bother to wait for anyone else. Hitting the controls, the pod sealed and ejected from the station, closely followed by several others.

As the escape pods blasted away from the station, several Broadsword fighters moved to intercept, only for point defense lasers to intercept and destroy them. The blasts had come from the _Scimitar_, one of the few ships that had managed to escape to hyperspace before the HORNET mines had detonated.

During the chaos, it had returned, cloaked and signaled the Sith Lord about the ship's survival. Once that was done, the crew kept hidden, lying in wait for their masters to return. Once Maul, Savage and their few remaining soldiers had been retrieved, the modified Star Destroyer fled into hyperspace, leaving the system behind.

* * *

Overall, the entire event could be counted as a pyrrhic victory for the Shadow Collective: they'd succeeded in disrupting Cerberus' scientific operations, but at the cost of nearly an entire fleet and it's complement of soldiers. Though the fleet hadn't contained even a majority of the Shadow Collective's military, it was still a not-so-insignificant blow to the criminal organization's hardware and manpower.

Furthermore, the battle had resulted in the near-deaths of the Shadow Collective's leaders. Darth Maul and Savage Opress were barely alive when the ship's crew got them out of their commandeered escape pods.

In the end, the two brothers had attained enough wounds to require an extended period in a Bacta tank (Felix required the same treatment for a ruptured lung, while Locus only needed some medi-gel), but had also gained even more clout when it was revealed that they had taken on a Spartan and survived.

The Sith Lord could only scoff at that thought: Despite the existence and power of the Republic and Separatists, many in the IDA still considered the Spartans to be more dangerous than any of the forces belonging to the two interdimensional superpowers.

Of course, he had seen much more of their dangerous beings than anyone in the IDA could've ever imagined.

On an even more important note, it was all but confirmed that the Office of Naval Intelligence was behind the reconstitution of Cerberus. The Sith Lord knew that Serin Osman would be gunning for him, so the threat of releasing this knowledge to the IDA should keep ONI off the Shadow Collective's back.

Still, the Shadow Collective needed to rebuild and quickly. Though ONI's ambush had failed to capture or kill the two Zabraks, it had still caused enough damage that would require them to build up their forces once again. And there was one place where he could acquire the support he needed to accomplish that.

"Take us to Omega." Maul ordered, once he was out of the bacta tank. "We need to expand our forces."

* * *

UNSC Point of No Return. Location Unknown.

Admiral Serin Osman was furious.

The trap to ensnare the ruthless leader of the Shadow Collective had failed, as Darth Maul had slipped through the clutches of the surrounding UNSC fleet, who apparently didn't bother to scan for any cloaked signatures after the battle in space had ended.

She couldn't blame Kilo-Five for his escape however; she was the one who ordered them to take the Sith alive, which hampered their ability to retaliate with full strength. Still, she no longer had the element of surprise, which meant the Nightbrother heads of the Shadow Collective would be on guard for any attempts on their lives.

On top of that, she had just finished getting a lecture from Fleet Admiral Lord Terrance Hood, who himself was furious about an entire UNSC patrol group being commandeered by ONI, though she had placated him somewhat when she told him that she had requisitioned the fleet as part of a trap for Darth Maul. _Which isn't even a lie._ She thought.

The only consolation was that the Republic and Separatists weren't involved in the slightest, and seemed unaware of how far her machinations with Cerberus actually went. Though how long she could keep the superpowers in the dark was another question entirely.

Walking into her office, her bodyguards took their positions outside while she activated the Faraday Cage around her, scrambling any potential listening devices and preventing any outbound signals. Leaning back in her chair, she sighed.

She thought back to how she knew how to bait Maul: Cad Bane had been a useful gold mine of intelligence on the Sith Lord's whereabouts. He had been uncooperative at first (no surprise there), but eventually he had been worn down enough to spill his guts (Figuratively and literally).

Of course, Osman was disappointed that he didn't have any useful intel on the Separatists. ONI especially wanted information on a Separatist-allied assassin called Deadshot, who had been responsible for a high-profile hit on an important political figure (military analysts and AIs also wanted to know how he made that shot. By all logic it should've been impossible, but the ricochet marks didn't lie. Not to mention the camera footage of Deadshot killing five security personnel who cornered him with one round). Not even Linda-058 could've pulled off those shots.

_An assassin like that would be really useful right about now. _She mused. Considering how she had been the one to essentially reconstitute Cerberus, it wouldn't be wise to inform the rest of the UNSC about that fact. Frankly, it was hard enough to keep the factions of the IDA from hunting down and tearing the human supremacist organization apart. Still it was amazing how many skeletons even the most legitimate governments kept in their closets.

Shaking out of her musings, she activated her holoprojector and sent out a direct call through encrypted channels. A moment later, an ODST answered, helmet off, revealing his fair skin and Russian ancestry.

"Admiral Osman." Vassily 'Vaz' Beloi acknowledged. "What do you need?"

Osman wore a ghost of a smile. "Vaz, I need you to conduct surveillance on Omega." She ordered. "Reports indicate that Maul has been frequenting that station lately. Find out how often he goes there, what he's there for, who he talks to, everything."

"What is my support?" Vaz asked.

"Unfortunately minimal." Osman sighed. "This is an off the grid mission. Having the entire team infiltrating Omega would draw too much attention, especially from the criminal element. Needless to say, this is a volunteer mission."

"Consider it done." Vaz replied. "I'll scout out the region and report on his movements."

"Good." She replied. "But don't try to take him on yourself. I want regular reports on what you found."

"Yes, ma'am."

* * *

Shadow Broker station

"So the rumors are true?"

"Yes, Dr. T'Soni." Glyph replied. "According to our agents, the UNSC set a trap for Darth Maul at the Cerberus station designated: the Barn. However, it appears that the Sith Lord escaped the UNSC."

"The UNSC, or ONI?" Liara countered.

"It is currently unclear at this time." Glyph said after a moment of silence.

Liara looked over the data and sighed. From what she could deduce, ONI had been responsible for Cerberus' reconstitution, but so far she couldn't find a scrap of evidence that confirmed that. She had contacted the Republic and told them about her theory, and thanks to her previous work that first revealed the Reaper cycle of extinction, they had agreed with her assessment, cross-referencing her intelligence with their own.

Unfortunately, they were too preoccupied with the Flood and the Separatists to risk destabilizing ONI at a critical time. Of course, they had recommended contacting someone else to help.

"Glyph, get me a line to Nirauan." Liara said.

"Of course, Doctor."

The transmission was sent from the hidden station between galaxies, crossing the void in an instant. The signal was boosted through a powerful relay in the Unknown Regions, eventually reaching the Hand of Thrawn on the planet Nirauan. Admiral Voss Parck answered the call.

"Shadow Broker. This is an unexpected pleasure."

"I have intel you might be interested in." Liara replied, heading right to business. "It appears that ONI is responsible for Cerberus' return."

"That's a surprise." Parck raised an eyebrow. "Is there any proof that links them to it?"

"Not yet." Liara replied, knowing that the software would distort her voice to hide her identity. "But it's only a matter of time before they slip up."

"Well, it's good to have some form of confirmation." Parck said. "Even if we can't use it against them. And what of the Shadow Collective?"

"They've suffered some heavy losses." Liara stated. "It seems that ONI baited a trap for Darth Maul at an important military installation, wiping out a fleet of ships in the process."

"And Maul himself?"

"According to reports, he escaped the trap." She said. "Though his current whereabouts still elude me."

"I see." The Imperial Admiral muttered. "Still, this intel will be very useful, and we'll gladly pay for all the relevant data."

In response, Liara gestured to Glyph, who immediately sent all the files through to the Empire of the Hand's computer system.

"Consider it free of charge. As payment for dealing with Weyland-Yutani." Liara then disconnected the call.

Yawning, she considered taking a break, before she decided to get one last report before getting some rest. Keying a unique frequency known only to one person, Liara waited for his reply.

She didn't have to wait long.

"Liara, good to hear from you." A raspy drell voice emerged from the speaker.

"Good to hear from you as well, Feron."

"Pleasentries aside, I'm guessing you didn't call for small talk."

"No, I didn't." The Shadow Broker sighed. "I'm just checking in our little project. Do you have any news on CAT6's whereabouts?"

"Unfortunately, we've recently lost track of them." Feron reported. "We tracked them to the fringes, but after that, they simply vanished. Massani went ahead to find them, but so far we've heard nothing."

At that moment, Glyph flew over, having been monitering the conversation. And as it just so happened, Zaeed had reported in just a few minutes ago. Glyph took a moment to explain what Zaeed had been up to, including meeting up with Samara and a Jedi Knight.

"A Justicar and a Jedi?" Feron repeated in disbelief. "I'm amazed Zaeed's still alive."

"What about CAT6?" Liara asked, desperate to get the conversation back on track.

"Unfortunately Dr. T'Soni, Zaeed Massani has reported that he lost the trail of CAT6." Glyph stated. "It appears that they got into a conflict with the Athame Sisters and a force of Covenant."

"Covenant?" Liara echoed. "Where did they come from?"

"Not entirely sure, but reports from our contacts indicate they detected a CAS-class Assault carrier crashed on a planet within the fringes." Feron said. "Best guess, that's where they're from."

"A CAS-class?" Liara repeated. "That's a pretty rare sight these days."

"Shall we dispatch some operatives to seek out this carrier?" Glyph asked.

"Yes. Feron, you keep searching for CAT6." The asari ordered. "Alert me if anything comes up."

"Understood."

Feron immediately disconnected, and Liara yawned. Glyph noticed and swore to watch the network while she got some rest. Tiredly, rubbing her eyes, the asari Shadow Broker made her way to her quarters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To wit, that last bit was meant to tie in to my story Intention's Eye, which didn't really go anywhere, so it's not that important to this.


	12. Musings

Unknown location, several days ago

"What's his status?"

"He's still alive. Barely. I'll give him credit, he lasted longer than we thought he would."

"And his intel?"

"He's given us everything he has on the Separatists. Unfortunately, it wasn't much."

"What about their assassin we're searching for?"

"The only thing we got was an alias: Deadshot. Beyond that, he knows nothing else."

"A pity. Still, it was worth a shot. What about his intel on Maul?"

"It's solid. With any luck, we can have a task force assembled within a few days."

"Do it. I've already got Kilo-Five waiting at the Barn."

"Yes ma'am. What do we do about Bane?"

"Does he have any more useful intel?"

"No, he's given up all he has to save himself."

"Then dispose of him."

"As you wish."

* * *

Scimitar, approaching Omega.

"And that's what you're going to do." Maul said to the small sea of red armored soldiers. "Our forces need to replenish their losses, and we need more manpower and funds to expand. With the UNSC in the picture, this needs to be discreet. Any questions?"

One Defiler spoke up. "What type of support do we get?"

"Minimal." Savage answered. "Any large force will just draw attention to us."

"Unfortunately, our primary means of support will be from the Terminus mercenary bands." A wave of discontent spread through the Force at Maul's words, but none of the soldiers made any comment. "You all know your roles. I expect results within the week."

It was clearly a dismissal, and the small gathering of Defilers left for the hanger, ready to leave as soon as the ship exited hyperspace. As the sea of red parted, Maul was lost in his musings. The Defilers had been agents of corruption for the Zann Consortium: they set up racketeering operations, commanded slavery operations, intimidated rivals, kidnapped important officials and more. When the Consortium had been absorbed into the Shadow Collective, Maul had used them in the same manner, after altering their brainwashing to make them loyal to him. It was because of the Defilers that the Consortium had such a large military force in the first place.

Now, the Sith needed their expertise once more. With ONI hunting him down, any large scale raids would only draw more attention to his power base, which the Intelligence agency would gladly level. Of course, the Sith already assumed that ONI knew he frequented Omega, and that Aria T'Loak would be (rightly) suspected of aiding him.

Still, it would be best not to tell the Pirate Queen of Omega that ONI was after him. Even Aria T'Loak was wary of crossing the UNSC intelligence organization, unlike her bravado of being a contender for the Republic and Separatists.

Maul still couldn't believe the stupidity of the IDA: the Republic and Separatists had shown their power many times, and yet the vast majority of people still thought ONI was the supreme power of the multiverse (supreme power of the IDA, yes, but the two superpowers could annihilate them all if they really wanted to). And that wasn't even getting into what the Flood would do.

His musing was interrupted when one of the Defilers came up to him, with a question on hand.

"What is it?" Maul snapped, causing the soldier to flinch slightly.

"My lord, what do we do if ONI's waiting for us?"

"Retreat from the area." Maul said without hesitation. "And if that fails, you know what you must do."

Wordlessly, the Defiler nodded then turned away. The Sith Lord sighed and turned back to head to the bridge, Savage in tow. He wasn't ready for this. ONI's interference accelerated his timescale dramatically, and the Sith had no idea how to keep up.

Maul had ordered the construction of several shipyards within the Terminus Systems, as well as the creation of recruitment centers and vehicle factories. But even with maximum recruitment efforts, he still would not be ready for anything ONI brought to bear against him.

He would need some leverage, and that reminded him of the information he possessed. With any luck, he could threaten ONI and get them to back off, at least for the time being. But he would need to be sure that he could make the connection between ONI and Cerberus known.

Shaking out of his musings, Maul returned to the bridge with Savage in tow, needing to ensure that their arrival at Omega went smoothly. He already needed to assure Aria that ONI wouldn't be coming for her.

"My lord, we have a message from your other contact." Commander Saxon reported. "She wishes to speak with you immediately."

Maul paused at the unexpected news, then quickly made up his mind.

"Divert from our present course." He ordered.

Aria could wait.

* * *

Deep Space

The pirate armada wasn't much of one. This particular group of Kig-Yar had attempted to become a marauding raid fleet to build up their wealth and power. But decades of UNSC and Sangheili retaliations, and years of neglect made sure that many of their original ships were lost, with no way to rebuild the Covenant technology.

The largest vessel in the fleet was a single CCS-class battlecruiser that had most of its weapons and complement gutted in an effort to repair the rest of the armada, which could now barely hold a candle to the vessels at their peak in the Covenant war, let alone the modern day equivalents.

Nevertheless, it was still a significant amount of firepower that Darth Maul was eager to add to his Shadow Collective. His efforts to send envoys to the Covenant remnants and Insurrection factions had been stymied by the fact that most of the factions had been utterly annihilated during the Great Flood War. All he could find now were these pirate factions, many of whom were out of work thanks to other groups like the Space Pirates.

It was because of this that Darth Maul was here now, standing in the hanger of the pirate battlecruiser, surrounded by Kig-Yar pirates and protected by his brother and his most loyal Death Watch troopers, outlining his proposal to the pirate 'Empress,' who really didn't deserve that title.

"This can benefit both of us." Maul explained. "The Shadow Collective will provide you with protection and more wealth than you could ever desire."

"An interesting proposal." The Empress admitted. "But I must admit, I'm curious to know how you plan to protect us and yourself against ONI? Your little conflict at the Cerberus station has been making waves."

Maul tensed up, his hand drifting towards his lightsaber. He hadn't expected the news of his fight against ONI to have reached her ears yet. Already paranoid, the Sith Lord reached out with the Force, attempting to find any signs of an ambush. He cursed himself for his haste. For all he knew, ONI had reached out to these Jackals and convinced them to hold him here.

"Your proposal is interesting." The Empress repeated. "And the fact that you survived against one of ONI's demons is reason enough for me to be impressed. However, we will not be joining your organization directly."

"And so what would you propose instead?" Maul asked, resisting the urge to throttle the life out of her with the Force. He still needed all the allies he could get.

"We do not have the capabilities to go head on against ONI. However, we can provide you with what little info on their movements that we can find. We can also provide you with 20 percent of our plunder."

"That's very generous." Savage commented.

"We do not want to be your enemy." The Empress explained. "As you said, this could benefit us both. But we will need to ensure ONI's out of the picture before we can." Maul was silent for a moment before answering.

"Very well. I accept your offer."

...

As soon as Maul boarded his shuttle, he pulled a small blinking device from his shoulder.

"What is that?"

"A tracking device." The Sith answered his brother, crushing the delicate machine in his hand. "Someone on the Empress' ship is working for ONI."

"Shall we retaliate?" Commander Saxon asked, but Maul shook his head.

"No, let them be for now. But Commander, once we get back to our base, I want a thorough scan of everyone who comes through the facility. We need to be aware of any spies among us."

"Understood."

"And now, it's time to go see Aria." Maul sighed. "This will be fun."

...

"Well? Did our agent plant the tracker?"

"Yes, but it was discovered almost immediately and destroyed."

"That Sith is more paranoid than we assumed."

"We can try again at Omega."

"Don't worry about that, I have a couple plans in mind already."

"Ma'am?"

"Here's your next assignment. I want you to shadow him this individual. Apparently he has a meeting with Aria T'Loak. We need to know what she wants."

"Yes ma'am. I'll leave immediately."

"BB, are we clear?"

"_Yes, Admiral. No listening devices have been detected._"

"Good, I have a call to make."

* * *

Cronos Station II

"So, the operation didn't go according to plan." The Illusive Man blew out a puff of smoke as he addressed his employer. "Important research was lost and some of my best personnel were killed by the Shadow Collective."

"They're replaceable." Osman countered, throwing his own attitude back in his face. "Isn't that what you always say about your losses?"

The Illusive Man sighed and said nothing to answer. Admiral Osman had a point, all the losses could be easily replaced, but it was still irritating to have lost them all in the first place.

"Be that as it may," The Cerberus Leader started again. "Darth Maul and Savage Opress still escaped the trap."

"A minor setback." The ONI admiral said. "This turn of events will make him cautious and paranoid. And considering what we have waiting, he's right to be afraid."

"And what of Cerberus' operations?"

"Keep them running." Osman said. "If you get any intel on where Maul is, you will send it to me immediately." Her tone made it clear that it wasn't a request.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"See that you do."

And with that the transmission cut out, leaving the Illusive Man to stew over recent events and how he looked in Osman's books. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before Osman began to see him as a liability and have him killed.

He had his own plans to escape that fate. But the problem was that ONI had funded his return, and thus had many, many intelligence operatives and agents in his networks. He had no clue who to trust; even his most loyal zealots could be turned by ONI with the right... persuasion.

Sighing, the Illusive Man downed another glass of scotch, considering his options. ONI had him by the balls, and he was essentially their puppet. The Citadel races and the Alliance would want nothing to do with Cerberus, given their history. The Galactic Alliance would want his head on a pike, and even the Imperial Remnant would want him dead. He couldn't even try with the Galactic Federation. Furthermore, ONI likely had eyes and ears in all of those governments.

Then there were the two multiversal superpowers. From what little was known about the Republic, a human-supremacist would be as welcome there as a krogan would be at a vegetarian convention. The Separatists might be a possibility, considering Kai Leng was one of their top agents. On the other hand, if Weyland-Yutani's hostility to Cerberus was any indication, they would be no more welcome there than the Republic.

And then there was the Flood. It was clear they wouldn't infect anyone they could find a use for; the so-called Unitologists and even the Shadow Collective were proof enough of that. Still, the Illusive Man wasn't willing to ally himself with a multiverse destroying parasite unless he had no alternative. Given that they were the true masters of the Reapers, odds didn't look good for him.

Although if he could find a way to control the Flood, then everyone else would be a non-issue. Even Osman couldn't do anything to stop him... The Illusive Man shrugged internally. It was something to think about.

* * *

UNSC Point of No Return. Unknown location.

"And that's what I need you to do." Admiral Osman stated. "Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am." The Russian voice of Vassily Beloi answered her, before hesitantly adding. "Are you sure you don't wish to bring any more assets in?"

"No, this is a recon mission. Your job is to observe, nothing more. Our other agent is in the field, but his role is only to make contact with Aria." Her demeanor softened slightly. "You won't be getting any backup beyond the initial transport, old friend. If you don't want to-"

"It will be done Admiral." Vaz declared. "I will make sure of it."

"Thank you, old friend." Osman said. "You and the rest of Kilo-Five are the only ones I trust in this matter."

"Glad to assist." Vaz said, and the comm winked out.

Osman sat back and sighed, feeling the weight of the decisions on her. It never got any easier running ONI, especially with all the chaos in the multiverse. Some people believed that the Office of Naval Intelligence had its eyes and ears in every corner of the multiverse, listening and observing every little detail. They took advantage of that view, cultivating ONI's mystique and keeping them feared.

The truth was rather different. ONI had agents and hidden AIs in rather high levels among most of the governments in the IDA, but there were still many gaps in their sphere of knowledge. Not to mention their little shadow conflicts with groups like STG, the Shadow Broker, GA Intelligence and more, also kept the focus of a lot of their resources.

It was part of the reason she had helped reconstitute Cerberus in the first place. The other governments needed something else to focus on, and the human-supremacist terrorist group fit perfectly. Unfortunately, they were costing a lot of money and resources, leaving her to question their worth. Even the unexpected windfall they had given her by getting into conflict with the Shadow Collective hadn't exactly filled her with much confidence.

And unfortunately, she couldn't afford to allow Cerberus to get too little supervision. ONI had learned that the hard way during the Human-Covenant war, with the events that happened between Charon Industries and Project Freelancer.

The former company had been a fairly large supplier of weapons during the Covenant war, and the latter was a program that intended to provide soldiers similar to the Spartans in order to use in the war.

Her predecessor, Admiral Parangosky and the rest of HighCom, had given them relatively free reign during the Covenant war, which cost a considerable amount of assets when the two sides had engaged in a small shadow war, with the soldiers of both sides kept in the dark.

After the war though, things changed. With the newly found peace, inspectors went through the records of Project Freelancer, and learned of the horrific crimes the Director had committed. His most horrific act was how he tortured the AI he'd been given, fracturing unstable pieces off of it to be used among his soldiers.

When it was discovered what had happened to the Alpha AI, Project Freelancer was shut down and the Director, Dr. Leonard Church was arrested. Due to his place on the UNSC Oversight Subcommittee, Chairman Malcolm Hargrove of Charon Industries was able to receive much of Freelancer's technology.

That all changed with the discovery of the Scandal on Chorus. When news reached the Inner Colonies of Charon's private war and attempted genocide of the inhabitants of that planet, there was much outrage amongst the UEG populace.

But what sealed Charon's fate was the discovery of their secrets: When HighCom learned that Charon had been holding a Huragok, they had immediately charged Chairman Hargrove with high treason and had him executed.

ONI managed to secure the Huragok, but due to the chaotic circumstances surrounding Charon's fall (and their rush to recover the Forerunner technology on Chorus), ONI's response was rather slow, and left too much time for their enemies to take advantage of this: the company's financial assets had somehow been liquidated by Stahl Arms and Weyland-Yutani, while most of the Freelancer tech was stolen by Separatist retrieval teams.

To make matters worse, two of Freelancer's top agents, the Meta and Carolina, had been recruited into the forces of the Separatists. Of Agent Washington and the simulation troopers instrumental in exposing Charon, there was no sign.

It didn't help that the Separatists had also recently struck against the UNSC itself (though they could never quite prove it). One particular incident had stood out in ONI's memory; it was an assassination of a politician in the middle of a political rally in the Outer Colonies. What had stuck out was the fact that the sniper round used had ricocheted off of several buildings and a Hornet providing air security, before it killed the politician.

It had taken the closest AIs some time to figure out what happened, but when they had, a squad of soldiers had cornered the assassin, but were promptly killed by one bullet from his wrist mounted gun, which somehow bounced off armor and walls to kill all five of them, allowing him to escape.

Even the best ONI analysts and AIs were baffled by such marksmanship. Not even SPARTAN-058 could've pulled off shots like those successfully. It was for this reason that she had been interested to learn about the assassin from Cad Bane, and was disappointed when the Duros was unable to provide any useful information (besides the alias Deadshot) before his death.

All of this was why Osman needed to keep tabs on her own projects, especially ones that the bulk of ONI had no knowledge of. With Cerberus being a prime example, it may have pulled some of her opposition's agents away, but she needed to focus on the Illusive Man so he didn't get out of hand, which was still taxing on her resources and operatives.

Which brought her back to the Republic and Separatists. Unlike ONI, it seemed those two superpowers had their spies everywhere, even among her own organization. She had identified a few, but had kept them around so she could feed them false information. Still, she couldn't help the suspicion that the ones she knew about were deliberate decoys to draw her attention away from other agents.

Her own agents had no such luck in their space. The Republic always knew whenever she tried, and they were either turned away, or were only fed false or common information that the common citizens knew. And that's not getting into the agents who stopped reporting in completely, having no doubt been either killed or turned against ONI.

Of course that was still more subtle than the Separatists. More often than not, they just sent her attempted spies back in body bags, and subverted the few that they decided not to kill.

And then there was the Flood. She had always been privy to the information regarding the monstrous alien parasite, but what little she heard about them now chilled her to the core. She remembered reading about the Mona Lisa incident, and how a Major "John Smith" had attempted to turn the Flood into soldiers that could be controlled. They had learned the hard way that that was impossible.

It was because of the Flood that the Republic and Separatists were working together in relative peace, and for that she was thankful. Those two groups knew the threat that the Parasite possessed, and would not rest until they had been expunged from the multiverse.

Shaking out of her musings, Osman turned her attention back to her work. She had so much to do, and she still had to placate Hood for 'borrowing' naval assets without asking him. Hopefully, Vaz would report back soon with Maul's location. That would more than make up for it.

* * *

Omega

Aria walked into a private booth in a hidden section of Afterlife. She had installed this area years after the Reaper war, as both the antechamber to a secret bunker, and a meeting point for private clients that she didn't want anyone else to know about.

And this meeting was something she especially didn't want anyone else to know about. Soon, her guest arrived, a robed being walked through the door and sat down at the nearest table.

"I hear the great Aria T'Loak has need of my services." The figure bowed his head. "How can I be of assistance?"

Aria suppressed a twitch at the minor lack of respect. She couldn't afford to get angry at this person. He was the Merchant, a being of unknown race who would sell unique and experimental pieces of technology to anyone... for the right price. Unfortunately, Republic and Separatist technology was beyond even his ability to acquire, but knock offs of their technology created by the IDA was within his reach.

"I need a specific item." The Pirate Queen explained, opening up her omni-tool and sending the info to his. He stiffened in what appeared to be surprise.

"You want that? Why?" His voice became understanding and smug. "Is it because of the Sith Lord you've found yourself allied with?"

"Enough with the games." Aria snapped. "Do you have it or not?"

"Yes, I have that item." The Merchant nodded. "But it will cost you quite a bit."

"I need it. No matter the cost."

"Well then. It'll be ready for you in a few weeks. Is there anything else you need?"

"There is one other thing." She created a hologram of the item in question. She could swear he raised an eyebrow at that.

"Ok, that weapon is not as simple to use as everyone thinks. There is a reason it's not common."

"Can you get it or not?"

"I can." The Merchant said hesitantly. "Though an energy sword would have the same capabilities. And would be far easier to acquire and handle."

"I don't care. How long until you can get it?"

"Same time as it will take for the other one. It'll be ready for you in a few weeks."

"Good." Aria said, her eyes narrowing. "I trust you'll be discreet."

The Merchant laughed and said: "Trust me, if there's one thing I know, it's discretion."

The Merchant left the booth, and Aria left from the opposite direction, meeting up with one of her asari acolytes on the outside. Silently, the two returned to her booth overlooking Afterlife, and sat down.

"You will not speak a word of this." Aria said to the other asari. "Am I clear?"

The asari nodded, then hesitantly posed a question.

"Is it really necessary?" She asked. "There's no reason Maul would turn on you-"

"He kicked an Ardat-Yakshi out of his mind." Aria countered. "It's a matter of 'when' he turns on me, not 'if' he does."

There was the chiming of an omni-tool as they got a report that the _Scimitar_ had arrived within the system. Filled with grim anticipation, Aria summoned her guards back to her, and waited for the Sith Lord's arrival. He was late, and she wanted to know what had happened at that Cerberus station.

...

Half an hour later, he arrived and immediately went to Afterlife to speak to her. After he filled her in on his war with Cerberus, she found herself in a rare instance of feeling both furious and absolutely terrified.

"ONI?!" She hissed, her guards feeling the same fear she was.

"Yes, it appears they have taken an interest in Cerberus as well." Maul explained, rather calmly for someone who had gone up against the boogeymen of the IDA.

Aria noted that he clearly knew more about this than he let on, but she didn't know what exactly the Sith Lord was hiding. Still, she knew enough about ONI that it seemed strange for them to send an entire UNSC fleet against Cerberus.

"An interest in Cerberus, or an interest in you?" She accused, earning a glare. "Regardless, you seem rather calm about ONI's involvement."

At this Darth Maul's face darkened, and his brother and guards tensed up. She felt a cold chill in the air, which meshed well with Maul's cold and tranquil fury.

"We have spent two years under involuntary service to the Flood." The Sith snarled. "I have personally had to fight with the most dangerous warriors the Republic and Separatists had to offer. ONI and their pet attack dogs are nothing."

Aria shuddered slightly at the icy tone in Maul's words. It was easy to forget that the Sith Lord had already dealt with far more dangerous opponents a few years back, and clearly had been lucky to escape with his life. Surviving a fight against a Spartan must've been tame by comparison. Still, that didn't mean he shouldn't have been concerned.

"Be that as it may." Aria finally spoke. "I will not abide an attack on my station. Not from them."

"There won't be any attack. I'll make sure of it."

"How?" She countered. "Even your forces can't stand against the UNSC. Hell, how do you know they haven't already sent their spies here?"

"Oh, they have." Maul said, a ruthless smirk on his face. "There is one onboard right now."

Aria froze. "And when do you intend to deal with this?" She asked, her own tone now icy.

"It's already being dealt with."

Confused, Aria was about to ask for details, but the smirk on his face made her words die in her throat. That was when she noticed that the Sith's newest lapdogs, Locus and Felix, were nowhere to be seen...

* * *

Vassily Beloi kneeled at the edge of the roof, scanning the Afterlife club through a pair of binoculars. His target had yet to appear, but it didn't matter. The ODST was nothing if not patient. Still, he would prefer to get off this station as soon as possible.

He had already seen the shadowy figure of the Merchant leaving the club, which meant that Aria had taken the offer. The Merchant was an ONI asset, a criminal mastermind who sold some of the more exotic weapons and tech from the highest bidder, as well as UNSC weapons and technology that were 'liberated' from research facilities.

He helped keep criminal elements distracted with their new toys (which in reality, posed little threat against the UNSC if turned against them) and force the rest of the IDA governments to deal with the chaos.

Vaz still wasn't to happy with the deal that had been offered to Aria, but it could be beneficial. If the Pirate Queen of Omega was willing to take down Maul and save ONI the trouble, then they would be all the willing to supply her with the means. That didn't mean he had to like it, as he reminded himself by looking over the streets below.

Omega was a cesspit of the highest order, filled with aliens of all types. Filthy disgusting creatures, Vaz saw them as little more than animals to put down. As much as Cerberus' methods were even more questionable than ONI's, Vaz could admire how their goals were similar.

His musings were interrupted when he spotted his quarry. Not that they would've been difficult to see. Even without their distinctive tattoos, the way the crowd parted before them was enough of a giveaway that Darth Maul had arrived. Escorted by his brother and several armored Death Watch soldiers, the Sith Lord entered the club, bypassing the line and bouncer without a hint of protest.

The ODST had confirmation that Maul was visiting Omega, rather regularily if the crowd's actions were any indication. And his entry into Afterlife could only confirm that the infamous Aria T'Loak was indeed in an alliance with him.

This complicated matters for ONI, seeing as they would have to fight through both the Shadow Collective and Aria's forces to get to the Sith Lord while on Omega, unless of course, they could ambush him again if he left. Or if they turned on each other. A soft click of a Magnum cocking behind him drew his focus back to the present.

"Well, well. What do we have here?"

Cursing himself for his inattentiveness, Vaz spun around and grabbed his assailant's hand, forcing the gun away from his head which discharged harmlessly into the floor. Kicking his opponent in the chest, Vassily pulled out his own sidearm as his opponent stumbled, allowing him to take in his opponent's appearance.

He was clad in UNSC derived armor, a Scout model helmet to be precise, predominantly grey with orange highlights. Having read up on Maul's associates, Vaz knew this was the mercenary Isaac Gates, better known by his codename Felix. He tended to be partnered with Samuel Ortez, better known as Locus, who was no doubt nearby at this moment. From the attack on the Barn, he knew the two of them had been badly wounded during their escape, so it appeared Felix had healed up rather well.

"Where is your partner?" Vaz demanded, cocking his own weapon as a warning.

Felix laughed. "You'll find out soon enough."

Something struck the back of his head, hard, causing the ODST to stumble and drop his gun. Collapsing to his knees, Vaz watched as Felix got back up, and noticed as a grey and green armored soldier decloaked in front of him. He inwardly cursed again.

He had been sent in without armor and with minimal weapons, in order not to draw attention. If he had had his VISR, he might've been aware of the attack before it came. Not that it would help him now. Locus was holding a sniper rifle, which he raised over the ODST's head.

"Lights out."

Locus' voice was the last thing that Vaz heard, before he woke up in a bare cell, suspended in the air by force field mounted cuffs. As Beloi managed to get his bearings, the cell door opened, and Darth Maul walked though.

"How are you feeling?" The Sith asked in mock concern.

Vaz just spit on Maul's cybernetic legs.

"You will get nothing from me."

Maul just smirked. A black floating orb emerged from the hall outside the cell and entered the room. The ODST recognized it from the data on the former Galactic Empire: IT-0 interrogation droids, or more accurately, torture droids. Their methods of interrogation were effective, but cruel even by ONI standards. Vaz's defiance wavered at the sight, while Maul's smirk grew wider.

"We'll see about that."

The cell door closed behind him.

* * *

**Alright, well things are going wrong. ONI's tracking Darth Maul, the Illusive Man plots to try and take control of the Flood (what else is new?) and Maul now has a member of Kilo-Five as a prisoner. Things are only going to escalate from there. And now, here's a hint of something upcoming. Two characters will be brought into this story soon enough, and here's your first glimpse at who they are.**

...

Shadow Broker space station.

Inside the base, Liara sat at her desk, looking over the information she had gathered as a favor to her lover. Shepard had taken a job from the Republic to ferry a pair of individuals around IDA space for a few weeks, and had asked her to learn what she could about them. So far, she wasn't having much luck.

"Run it by me again." Liara said.

"We have good reason to believe that these two individuals are important." Glyph confirmed. "Beyond that, it's impossible to determine."

"Do we have any personal details?"

"Well we know they're married."

The Shadow Broker sighed. "Anything else?"

"Negative." Glyph confirmed. "All substantial details are redacted. We can't get anything on them."

"So all we have is their names." Liara stated, looking over the datapad.

She threw the datapad on her desk and sighed. Shepard had asked her to gain any information on the Republic scientists that he had been asked to chaperone to scientific sites in the multiverse, but she was unable to gain that info for her lover. The only thing she had was their names, which were currently displayed on the datapad.

Wallace and Artemis West.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To note, the side story for those two takes place in another story of mine, "New Opportunities" which I may or may not end up posting on this site. But they'll make a big appearance towards the end.


	13. First Impressions

UNSC Point of No Return

Serin Osman was worried. Vassily Beloi had not reported back in some time, and the rest of Kilo-Five was starting to get concerned. She had ordered Vaz to find Maul's base of operations in preparation for another strike, but he hadn't been heard from in over 48 hours.

At that moment, her communication pad activated, registering a call from Vaz himself. 'Thank god.' She thought as she activated the comm pad. "Vaz, it's about time. What have you learned-"

All speech died on her lips when she saw that the hologram was not of Beloi, but rather the tattooed Sith Lord she had sent him to find. Darth Maul smirked as he replied; "I'm sorry, Vassily Beloi is currently indisposed. Can I take a message?"

Serin didn't bother asking about his fate, for she already knew Maul had tortured him. There was no way Vaz would have given up her communication frequency otherwise. Though she felt fear at the thought of something breaking him.

Like most ONI operatives, he had gone through extreme interrogation and torture methods to ensure that they wouldn't break down so easily. Vaz had made it through that amazingly, and seemed to be the last person who would ever break. Just what did this Zabrak Sith Lord do to him?

"What do you want?" Osman asked, more to allow time to trace the signal rather than any actual attempt at negotiation. Unfortunately, Maul saw through the ruse immediately.

"Do you really think I'm foolish enough to open a direct frequency to you?" Maul laughed. "I'm not stupid."

"Is there something you want?" Osman sighed. "Or are you just here to rant and rave like so many other lunatics."

"You will cease your operations against me." Maul said, his voice growing cold. It wasn't a request, it was a fact.

"And why would you assume I would agree to that?" Osman asked, convinced that this Zabrak was delusional.

"ONI's reputation amongst the IDA is already rather appalling." Maul's smile was rather unsettling. "I wonder what would happen if they knew that ONI's head founded the return of Cerberus."

Osman felt her blood run cold at this satement, but she kept her face impassive. Despite this, the Zabrak seemed to know anyway, as his smile grew wider.

"You have no evidence of this." She coldly countered. "And no one would believe the likes of you."

"Do you really think I'd go to all this risk without a contingency?" The Sith retorted. "Your little attack dog is not as loyal or as careful as you think, Admiral."

A file appeared on the screen. "The first Cerberus facility we raided had the intel on the central computers. It states that ONI was responsible for shipments of materials and funds to Cerberus facilities all throughout the Terminus Systems."

"You really think anyone will believe that?" The ONI Admiral retorted. "The words of a terrorist organization and a criminal that served the Gravemind will not be believed by anyone in power."

"Perhaps not right away." The Zabrak agreed. "But it'll draw their attention to ONI's operations. They'll start questioning everything you do, and sooner or later, they'll find out about things you don't want people to know. Is that a risk you're prepared to take, Admiral?"

While her mouth was curled into a snarl, Osman inwardly sighed. He was right. She couldn't afford to risk that, not now, at least. Calling off her attacks against the Shadow Collective right now, would be a small price to pay, in order to keep her operations in motion.

"Send Vaz back to me." She said. "All of our operations against you will stop."

"I'm glad you saw reason." The Sith turned away, saying; "I'll make the arrangements."

"This isn't over, Sith." She all but spat the word. Maul turned, and somehow, his smile grew even wider.

"I am counting on it."

The transmission cut out, and Serin sighed. Black-Box's avatar took that moment to appear.

"Are you sure that is wise?" The black box lit up on the side facing her. "We can cover up the evidence leak before it begins. Maul will have nothing against us."

"I doubt that was all the data he had." She replied. "And it would be a mistake to underestimate him again."

"So you're just going to agree to his demands?" BB was incredulous.

"Oh, he thinks I will." Osman smirked. "But I have no intention of giving him the freedom he wants. This is a setback, I'll admit, but all it really means is that we need to be subtle about this."

"I see." BB replied. "I'm assuming that the Merchant's delivery to Miss T'Loak is to proceed?"

"Yes. Even if she turns on him, I doubt she'll succeed at killing him, but one way or another, it will benefit us."

"Understood Admiral. Now, if you'll excuse me, I will go make the necessary arrangements to receive Beloi."

"Thank you BB." Osman smiled. "Make sure he comes back in one piece."

The hologram projector winked off as Black-Box disappeared. As soon as he was gone, Osman sent out another transmission, this time going to the Cronus Station. She needed to have a chat with the Illusive Man.

* * *

Scimitar, comms room.

Savage, Locus and Felix watched as Maul finished his discussion with the head of ONI herself. The latter two were impressed. It's not every day that you see someone successfully threaten the Office of Naval Intelligence.

"Do you really believe she'll keep her word?" Savage asked. Maul shook his head.

"I do not believe she will halt _all_ operations against us." The Sith replied. "But she will be forced to limit what she can send against us. Which buys us the time we need."

"What will we do with Beloi?" Locus asked. Maul looked at Locus then turned back to Savage.

"Has he been injected with the tracker?"

"Yes, Brother." Savage replied. "If it all works out, we will know any location they bring him to."

"Excellent." The Zabrak smiled wickedly. "Osman is close to him, so she'll bring him to her. Then we'll know where critical UNSC locations are."

"That may not work." Felix pointed out. "I've heard enough about ONI to know they have ways of blocking any tracking signal."

"Which is why the tracker is laced with explosives that will detonate if the signal is blocked." Maul replied. "Either way, ONI and the UNSC will lose significantly."

"You know, I like the way you think." Felix smirked.

"Thank you." Maul said smugly. "Now though, we have a lot of work to do."

With a nod to each of them, Savage, Locus and Felix left the comms room. The former intended to make sure Beloi's release went smoothly, and the latter two were going to ensure that ONI spies were rooted out. This left the Sith Lord alone in the room.

There was a moment of silence before the holoprojector indicated an incoming call, this time from Aria herself. Darth Maul sighed and moved to the controls, creating a hologram of the asari's head.

"Did it work?"

"ONI will no longer be a problem." Maul replied. "You needn't worry Aria."

"I believe I should be concerned." Aria snarled. "With Cerberus gunning for my station again, the last thing I need is ONI coming after me as well." Her eyes narrowed. "Especially since you couldn't take them."

"ONI will no longer be a problem." The Zabrak repeated, more forcefully this time. "What I learned from their agent will keep them far away from you."

That was when Maul noticed yet another call coming in. It was coming from one of his Defilers on Endor.

"Now, if you don't mind, I have another call to take."

He cut off her connection, deliberately annoying her and upsetting her desire to get the last word. Smirking at how angry she would no doubt be, he shook out of his amusement before answering the call. The hologram displayed a red armored Defiler, his armor scuffed and damaged. He had seen conflict today.

"Status report."

"My Lord, we've suffered heavy casualties." The soldier replied breathlessly. "We're under attack from some sort of Imperial PMC, along with a faction of Covenant!"

"Are they working for ONI?" Maul asked.

"No sir. They appear to be hostile towards each other as well. But we can't sustain these losses. We're going to have to scrub the mission."

"That is... unfortunate." The Sith sighed. "Very well. Retrieve what you can and return to base."

"Yes, my lord. We'll-" The Defiler was interrupted by some sort of explosion off to the side. Pulling out his blaster, the soldier screamed. "Take them down! Take them down!"

There was the sound of a roaring Sangheili before the signal was lost, leaving Darth Maul alone in the comm room. After a moment, the Sith sighed again. He had been having such a good day.

* * *

Cronos Station II

"Would you like to explain to me why you left records of ONI's transactions on your computers?"

Osman was not happy, that much was clear. The Illusive Man could tell as much from her unexpected call and the restrained fury in her visage. The head of Cerberus was man enough to admit that it was actually rather terrifying.

"What do you mean?" The Illusive Man asked carefully.

"There were no records left behind by us." The former Spartan snarled. "Which means you wrote these reports. Then you left them with little protection in your bases. One of which, was raided by the Shadow Collective."

The Illusive Man felt his blood run cold. He had thought that intel had been deleted when the base had been attacked. His men were supposed to have done that, and yet it seemed that they failed to. Now it seemed, his eventual blackmail material had been taken and was now being used by Darth Maul. First though, there was the issue of his angry benefactor.

"I don't know why it was there." The man formerly known as Jack Harper said. "The base commander must've misheard my instructions."

It was a bold-faced lie and both of them knew it. Fortunately for the Illusive Man, Osman declined to call him out on that fact.

"Well this leaves us in an unfortunate position." Osman replied. "Because Maul knows about the connection between ONI and Cerberus. And it's a fact he's willing to use it as leverage."

"That's a complication." The Illusive Man murmered. "What can we do?"

"How are the Xenomorph experiments coming along?" Osman asked. Confused by the sudden change in topics, the Illusive Man replied:

"We have yet to make much progress. Even with what we know about them, our scientists have yet to replicate the same technique Weyland-Yutani uses to control them."

"Forget about that." The ONI Admiral replied. "We need to accelerate Cerberus' conquest of Omega. And those Xenomorphs will be the key."

The man formerly known as Jack Harper had a feeling about what she was planning, and that he might actually like it.

"I'm listening."

* * *

UNSC Point of No Return

After the strategy session with the Illusive Man, Serin sat back and sighed, an action she found herself doing a lot of lately. It wasn't a perfect strategy by any means, but without UNSC support, Cerberus could only do so much to take over Omega by itself.

Hopefully, the strategy would work to give Cerberus access to the heart of the Terminus Systems. If it didn't work... well it was no huge loss for ONI. Given the existence of the Illusive Man's blackmail material that was now in Darth Maul's hands, it was clear that he was going to outlive his usefulness far sooner than she had predicted.

Deciding that this new liability was something she could deal with later, Osman activated her holoprojector and a blue holographic box sprang to life in the projection.

"Greetings Admiral. Do you need something?"

"What's Vaz's status?"

"He's been returned safely." BB replied. "They tried to implant him with a tracker set to explode if the signal was blocked, but we disabled it."

"I should've figured they wouldn't keep their word." Osman growled, then smiled in spite of herself. "Not that I've done the same."

"I must ask Admiral." Black-Box interjected. "Do you really believe the Illusive Man will be able to take Omega, even with the Xenomorphs?"

"Maybe, maybe not." She shrugged nonchalantly. "In the end, it won't matter. Cerberus is ultimately a pawn to us. Whether they succeed or fail is inconsequential, so long as they do what we need them to do." She looked at the hologram. "And while they do that, we need to continue with our own work."

"Of course, Admiral." The hologram winked off.

* * *

**Ok, I know this a little sparse on important events, but it's a chapter I wanted to get of the way. Plus, it gives me an opportunity to announce that the side story I mentioned last chapter has been posted. It's called New Opportunities, and here's part of the latest chapter:**

**...**

In orbit of Installation 00 (aka the Ark)

The SSV Normandy SR-2 flew through the traffic over the Forerunner construct, on a docking course for the 100 km long ship hovering near the Halo megastructure in orbit. As Joker skillfully maneuvered through the crowded space, Commander John Shepard couldn't help but marvel once more at the sheer scale of the station.

For the longest time, Shepard had thought of the Citadel as being the largest space station ever. Then he saw those built by other universes and realized how small he'd been thinking. How small their entire galaxy had been thinking.

The Ark was a massive flower-shaped construct, easily ten times the size of any Earth. And the Republic had only made it more impressive. In orbit over the Forerunner construct, the frame of a Halo ring sat, the Republic using that primarily as a shipyard and repair dock.

His mind was brought back from his musings as Joker announced that they had reached their destination. With EDI talking with the Republic controllers and AIs, Shepard moved down to the hanger bay, with the doors opening as he arrived.

Shepard stood on the boarding ramp of the Normandy_, _which was currently docked in Docking Bay C11 of the Republic mega-dreadnought _Guardian. _Looking around, Shepard thought back to how he came to be here.

The Commander had been intrigued by stories about the Republic when he first learned of their actions, and when they approached him and offered to upgrade the Normandy with their tech, he had leapt at the opportunity.

One of the first things they had done was upgrade the stealth systems with an actual cloaking device, so now the Normandy could truly disappear. They had also augmented the vessel with an interdimensional drive, meaning the ship no longer required a mass relay to travel, plus the engine overhauls had made it one of the fastest ships in the multiverse. Thanks to Republic dimensional tech, the Normandy's interior was much bigger than the exterior would have permitted, allowing extra space and a new deck in the floorplan. In addition to the stealth Kodiak, the hanger now held a larger and more heavily armed Republic dropship (which was equipped with a cloaking device of its own). And thanks to the revamp of the offensive systems, the Normandy now performed even better than it ever had before, and was capable of going toe to toe with three Reaper capital ships at once and winning.

Despite that, Shepard was no fool; he knew the Republic would never give full access to their best military hardware, in case the Council would try to take control of the Normandy's tech and learn its secrets: Hardware locks had been installed on every upgrade, which would cause them to self-destruct if they were taken apart. Furthermore, the hardware they had been given was not the most cutting-edge equipment (it wasn't quite second-hand, but it wasn't state of the art either). And even though the Normandy was upgraded to the point that it was essentially a super-dreadnought by Council classification, it still would be curbstomped by a Republic recon corvette.

In a way, the Spectre understood their caution, and he was still amazed at how much they had helped his crew. Liara's work as the Shadow Broker had been greatly enhanced by Republic support. Also, due to the stigma the Quarians and Geth still suffered to this day, the Republic offered their assistance in many matters, both scientifically and socially. And Joker had been cured of his Vrolik Syndrome.

He shook himself out of his musings as he pondered the task in hand: Republic Command had requested that he escort a pair of civilians to a number of scientific research sites around Citadel Space.

Given that the Normandy had been upgraded with Republic tech (and that Shepard and crew could also be considered as diplomatic liasons for the Republic), the Spectre had agreed to that request, though he had voiced his concerns about possibly babysitting civilians in a combat zone.

However, he had been assured that his guests were more than combat capable, silencing any other objections he had. The only other curious detail about this assignment was that a rather large surplus of food was also being shipped to the Normandy, which was already fully stocked for the two weeks he would have this mission.

Shepard had raised this issue, but the only reply he had gotten was that it was for his guests. Baffled, the Commander had relented, though he was still convinced that the extra supplies would have to be thrown out after going bad; not even Grunt and Wrex combined could eat that much!

And now he was waiting for his charges to arrive. Soon he saw a group of people descend from a nearby elevator, and they made their way towards the Normandy. Shepard raised his eyebrows in slight surprise; he was told he was expecting two people, not six.

What was more surprising was that one of them was carrying the large crate containing the extra supplies with one arm, and even more amazing, he didn't even seem to be having any difficulty doing so.

James Vega, Ashley Williams and Garrus Vakarian joined Shepard down in the Normandy's docking bay just as the small group reached them, allowing the Normandy crew to get a good look at their new arrivals, and they were honestly surprised by their age as most of them looked to be in their early 20s.

The two guests Shepard was supposed to pick up were there; a young man with red hair and green eyes, and a young woman with blonde hair and grey eyes. But the new arrivals included a young raven haired man in his early twenties wearing sunglasses (who was quite handsome, considering Ashley was trying hard not to stare at him for too long), a dark-skinned young man with webbed hands (which drew Shepard's attention for a moment) wearing a turtleneck sweater, a young red haired teenage girl with almost glowing green eyes and short cropped hair, and the blue eyed, black haired teenager who had been lifting a massive crate over his shoulder as if it was as light as a feather.

"Are you Commander Shepard?" The blonde woman asked as the group of young adult humans made their way up the ramp.

"I am." The Spectre said, "And I'm assuming you're Artemis West?" She nodded, before Shepard turned to the redhead beside her.

"And I'm guessing you're Wally West?" The redhead nodded, before shaking the Spectre's hand.

"It's an honor to meet you Commander. We've heard incredible things about you." Wally said.

"Glad to hear it. Though I was told you two would be the only passengers we would be taking."

"Oh, we're just here to see them off." The sunglasses guy responded (who Shepard mentally named 'Shades'), "Oh, and to make sure Wally has enough food to last two weeks." He finished, gesturing to the crate laden teenager, who dropped the supplies on the deck, hitting the ground with a loud thud.

Garrus and Vega couldn't help but stare at the teen, who didn't even look remotely exhausted from carrying such a heavy load. They were even more surprised when they tried to lift the heavy load, only to struggle against the weight. Meanwhile Shepard was rather shocked that all the food he had been asked to bring with him was for one man.

But what was even more curious was that the teens almost seemed to be having a mental conversation. Shepard knew it was possible to convey meanings and conversations with looks and body language, but this went beyond that; it was almost like they were having a discussion inside their heads. Wally nudged his wife for no apparent reason and she rolled her eyes, while the boy with shades seemed to be stifling laughter. At that moment, the voice of Jeff "Joker" Moreau came over the intercom.

"Uh, Commander, we gotta get underway soon. The Council's requesting that we return to Citadel space ASAP."

"Understood Joker." At that moment, the six new arrivals tensed up at Joker's name; Artemis and 'Shades' looked especially shocked and more than a little angry.

"Joker?" 'Shades' carefully asked, as if saying the name was physically disgusting to him.

"The Normandy's pilot." Shepard responded, and the group relaxed, though he could tell that name struck a chord with them... and it wasn't a pleasant one. It was something he would ask about later.

"And unfortunately, we need to leave immediately."

"Alright, we'll leave you guys to it." 'Shades' said, turning to Wally and Artemis. "We'll take care of things back home."

"You've got the list?" Artemis asked.

"I do. Don't worry, I'll make sure Brucely gets walked and fed."

"Cool, thanks Nightwing." Wally said.

After saying their goodbyes and after the other four had left, EDI took it upon herself to show the couple to their living accomodations in the Port Cargo Hold. Wally and Artemis quickly made themselves comfortable while Shepard and co returned to their stations.

When Shepard got in the elevator, it stalled for a moment, all the power systems shutting down. The Spectre frowned; he'd served on this vessel for years and something like this had never happened before. With the addition of Republic technology, it would've been even less plausible to happen. There was only one explanation.

"EDI?"

"Yes, Shepard?" The voice of the AI emerged from his omni-tool.

"Why did you shut down the elevator?"

"My apologies Commander, but I may have found something interesting about our guests."

"What do you mean?" The Spectre asked, before a thought occured to him. "You didn't access the Republic databases, did you?"

"No Commander." EDI replied, to Shepard's relief. "Their cyber security is too advanced for me. However, I was able to listen to the conversations around us as their friends left."

"And?"

"According to them, those individuals are extremely powerful and dangerous." EDI said. "In fact, it was claimed that they always reported directly to the Republic's Supreme Commander and his inner circle."

"The Supreme Commander?" Shepard couldn't contain his surprise.

The Republic's leader was arguably the most powerful and dangerous individual in the multiverse, no matter how much the leaders of the IDA would like to believe otherwise. Considering people like Samus Aran and Grand Admiral Thrawn always worked directly with him, anyone who regularily reported to him or worked directly under his orders had to be either powerful, intelligent or both. It was rather odd for someone like that to be placed onboard his ship for something as routine as this mission.

"You haven't mentioned this to anyone else, have you?"

"No, Shepard. I thought that the decision should be yours." EDI explained.

"Keep it quiet for now." Shepard ordered. "I'll figure out who our guests are when we have the time."

"Understood Commander." With her acknowledgement, the elevator started back up towards the CIC.

As soon as he reached the CIC, the Spectre gave the order to depart from the _Guardian _and set a course back to Citadel space all while a nagging thought entered the back of his mind: 'Just what have I gotten myself into?'


	14. Before the Storm

Shadow Collective space station

In the depths of the hidden station, Darth Maul and Savage Opress had met up with their head lieutenants to discuss recent developments. With the threat of ONI looming over his head, Maul had commissioned a project that would be daunting even for the wealth of the Shadow Collective.

To aid in this matter, the Sith Lord had extended an offer to several independent and brilliant scientists, anonymously offering a substantial amount of money for this project. They could've just kidnapped them of course, but Maul wanted them at their best, which they would be loathe to do under force alone. And now that they were here, it was time to see what progress had been made.

"Status report."

"The scientists we've hired have been given the task at hand." Commander Saxon replied. "They claim that what we're asking can be done, but it will take time. They're also requesting more drives."

"Then we shall get more." Maul replied. "And I'm presuming none of them are spies?"

"No, my Lord." Kast said. "We went over the background checks several times. They're clean."

"I wish to speak with them."

In response, Maul's Mandalorians brought them to the main lab, where many of these scientists were hard at work. Several of them had turned with widened eyes at the appearance of the Sith Lord.

The scientists weren't stupid; at this point, they had realized that their project was ultimately being funded by Darth Maul (if the markings on the Mandalorians hadn't been a dead giveaway), but it was still surprising (and rather worrying) for the Sith to approach them in person. Alas, by the time they had figured it out, they were all already neck deep in this mess.

"L-Lord Maul." The head scientist bowed his head in subservience. "How may we serve you?"

"Simply by giving me a report." Maul replied. "My warriors have already told me your answer, but I would like to hear it for myself. What I am asking for: Can it be done?"

The scientist looked at his companions, most of whom nodded. "Theoretically, it is possible." He replied. "But we're going to need a great many and time to work in order to install all the components necessary."

"How much time is needed?"

"At the most, approximately a week." The scientist said. "But if you can get the site prepared before the installation, we can cut that time in half."

"Good. Then continue with your tasks."

Maul then left, feeling the palpable relief from the scientists as he left. More importantly though, he sensed that they were telling the truth. The project could work, and would provide him far more freedom and protection if it did. In the end, that was all he desired.

As the two Zabraks left the station, Savage turned to his brother in concern.

"Brother, I do not believe Aria will be so willing to go along with this."

"Worry not, Savage." Maul said dismissively. "When the time comes for the project to be put into operation, there is nothing Aria will be able to do to stop it."

* * *

Omega

In the slums of Omega, a lithe figure made her way through the disgusting den. She wore a hood over her head, hiding her pale face, just in case someone recognized her. While it was unlikely, Asajj Ventress hadn't survived this long by taking risks.

She had originally intended to go to one of the ports and steal a ship, but Omega had been increasing its security with the help of the Shadow Collective. It seemed that Maul and Savage didn't want her escaping their clutches.

So now, she was reduced to hiding in the darkness of the station, sticking to places even the Shadow Collective wouldn't venture to, all the while cloaking herself in the Force to make sure the Nightbrothers wouldn't find her.

Now, her latest travel would take her straight through Vorcha territory. Wrinkling her nose in disgust, she headed through the darkened corridors, her senses on alert and her hands on her lightsabers.

Soon, she got the feeling that she wasn't alone. It became rather blatantly obvious when she came across a pair of freshly killed Vorcha corpses. They hadn't been torn apart, as would be expected of infighting, but rather cleanly, with a single round to the head. And their killers hadn't left, hiding in the shadows and thinking the darkness gave them any protection.

Ventress drew her lightsabers, the light bathing the darkened hallway in a rather bloody glow. The obvious mercenaries flinched at the sight, but rather than attempt to attack, they stood at attention, as one Batarian held his hands up in a placating gesture.

"Easy lady, we're not here for a fight." In an instant, Ventress was in front of the Batarian, one of her lightsabers at his throat, causing the rest of the mercs to aim their weapons.

"Then why are you here?"

"Because I asked them to find you." Ventress turned, seeing Aria T'Loak standing behind her. "I wanted to talk to you."

The Nightsister tensed up, which didn't go unnoticed by Aria. "Please honey, if I was going to turn you over to Maul, I would've done so already."

"You've been tracking me?"

"Nothing happens on Omega without my knowledge." Aria crossed her arms calmly.

"Well, that seems to be changing." Ventress smirked, causing the Pirate Queen to growl.

"And that's exactly why I wanted to talk to you. I need your help."

"And if I refuse to help you?"

"Then your two Zabrak friends will get free reign to hunt you down."

Ventress considered her options. She could just kill Aria and her guards, and use the chaos of the resulting power vacuum to escape, but she could see Maul quickly stepping in to take power, which would leave her at their mercy. Like it or not, Aria had her in a box here, and there was only one thing she could do.

"What do you want?"

* * *

As Aria returned from the slums, she was told that Maul was approaching the station. Once again, the Sith Lord had been off on his other business, whether it was attacking Cerberus outposts, or recruiting new gangs to his Shadow Collective.

With his power growing, the Pirate Queen felt more certain of her choice to make a deal with the witch. Sooner or later, the Zabrak would see her as a liability, and attempt to either completely subjugate, or failing that, eliminate her.

She planned to ensure that that wouldn't happen. She hadn't survived as the ruler of Omega for this long by being stupid. Still, even with the deal she had made with this witch, she couldn't be sure it would be enough to protect her rule.

She cleared her thoughts as the Sith entered her presence, schooling her features so that she wouldn't give anything away. Once the Zabraks arrived, they began discussing their businesses and how to get more funding and protection. Locus and Felix were there as well, the two lapdogs seemed rather bored by everything. Compared to the last couple of conversations they had had, this was rather relieving. So naturally, it wouldn't last for very long.

"Aria." Bray ran into the booth, and halted quickly when he saw that Maul was here, who shot an angry glare at the Batarian.

"Bray." She greeted calmly. "Would you mind explaining why you interrupted this meeting?"

"Forgive me, Aria." He lowered his eyes in respect and fear. "But a transmission just came in." He hesitantly looked at Maul again. "For both of you."

The asari and Zabrak looked at each other. Then Maul growled, "Show us."

Bray looked at Aria, and with a confirming nod from her, led the procession to Aria's private booth. The Pirate Queen entered first, immediately followed by the Sith Lord. Inside, the holocomm emitter was already on, showing the three dimensional image of the-

"Illusive Man." Aria snarled. "What do you want?"

"Nice to see you too, Aria." The Cerberus leader replied. "As for my call, I just want to make a business deal with you."

"I remember the last time you wanted to make a deal." Aria snarled. "It didn't do much to benefit me."

"Times have changed." The Illusive Man said, taking a drag from his cigarette. "All I want is access to the Omega 4 relay. That's all."

"Yeah, I remember that." She replied. "I also remember how that proved to be your undoing during the Reaper war. You really haven't changed at all."

"Spare me the insults, Aria. Things will go much smoother if you do. And what about you?" The hologram gestured to Maul. "I would assume you would be surprised by my appearance, _Lord_ Maul." He had put such emphasis on the word "Lord" in an attempt to get a rise out of the Sith. Instead, the Zabrak smiled.

"Oh, I've known of your return for quite some time now." Maul replied with a smirk. "Ever since my forces invaded your staging area in the Terminus systems." Of course, Osman's ODST comrade had helped confirm that, but the Sith had no need to reveal that he knew the true connection between Cerberus and ONI... yet.

"Then you must know I have powerful allies." The Illusive Man said, in a pathetic attempt to intimidate the two of them. "Human dominance is inevitable. Work with me, and you will have a place in the new empire."

"You claim your work will benefit humanity, but behind your rhetoric, you desire domination only for yourself."

'Oh, and my old Master was better at this whole domination game than a short-sighted fool such as yourself.' The Sith thought.

It was true; Darth Sidious had risen to the point where he conquered an entire galaxy. Compared to him, the Illusive Man was just a wannabe dictator with glowing eyes. Blue eyes stared into the red and yellow.

"Darth Sidious built an empire using intelligence and manipulation." Maul continued. "All of which are traits you lack."

"I've read the history books." The Illusive Man countered, "And even though the Emperor was a capable ruler, he lacked the foresight to hold onto his power."

The head of Cerberus had looked over the history of every faction in the multiverse, and had found that the Galactic Empire was the closest thing to his vision for humanity: Human High Culture dominated, while aliens took their proper place in the universe as inferiors. However, Emperor Palpatine had allowed a small faction of Rebels to depose him and topple the once mighty Galactic Empire, which only remained as the Imperial Remnant, which had sacrificed all the ideals Palpatine had envisioned. The Illusive Man could do better than that or so he thought.

"And pray tell, how could you do better?" Maul mocked.

"By granting mankind a weapon that will put us on top." He replied. "Something that will keep people in line through fear."

Maul suppressed a snort. The usage of oppression through fear hadn't worked quite so well for Grand Moff Tarkin and his Death Star, having the opposite effect. Furthermore, if he thought the xenomorphs were going to be his answer to such a weapon, then he would be disappointed.

"Do tell, what weapon could you be discussing?" The Sith replied in a sing-song voice. "Could it be the xenomorphs you've stolen? You truly believe that they are a threat in the grand scheme of things."

"For starters." The Cerberus leader said. "But my goals are much... bigger."

"And what makes you think you could reach that level?" Aria snarked. "What does several thousand failures gain you?"

"Weyland-Yutani and their Separatist allies have control of their xenomorphs." The Cerberus leader said, ignoring Aria. "But they lack ambition, a mere stepping stone to what could truly be done. If the technique was refined, then I could apply it to the Reapers, the Necromorphs and even the Flood." The Illusive Man finished with a puff of his cigarette.

"You want to harness the Flood?!" Aria interjected, astonished at the level of arrogance and stupidity coming from the Illusive Man.

"Of course. Humanity will reign supreme when we..." The Illusive Man trailed off at the disturbing sound coming from the QEC. There he witnessed a sight that no one had ever seen before.

Darth Maul was laughing.

Genuine laughter with a touch of madness, it was something no one had ever witnessed before, and even Aria T'Loak had backed away from the mad Sith Lord. Eventually, his laughter died down, but the amusement still shone in his eyes

"You are completely insane." Maul paused before deciding to reveal his secret. "Though what else can you expect from a clone?"

The reactions from everyone were across the board: Savage smirked, having learned this beforehand. Locus and Felix were visibly shocked despite their armor, and Aria's jaw had hit the floor. It was clear the Queen of Omega had been completely blindsided by this.

But no reaction was more telling than the Illusive Man's: The Cerberus leader dropped his glass of scotch.

"... Wh-What?"

"You didn't know you were a clone? One that the original Illusive Man made long ago? ONI didn't tell you that you're just a disposable asset to them?" Maul smirked.

He wasn't lying. According to the files they found in that defunct Cerberus base, this Illusive Man was actually a clone of the original, created on Horizon and hidden for many years after the Sanctuary facility was shut down. During the early years of the IDA, ONI had sent recon teams to scavenge any useful data from the base, so they could learn more about the Reapers and their capabilities.

They found the clone hidden in a sublevel of the gutted facility, kept alive by a separate power generator. A secret team, known only to the Director of ONI herself, had removed the clone and downloaded any intel in the sublevel, which was then destroyed by the UNSC.

It seemed that Osman had revived the clone, and helped gather any remaining Cerberus loyalists to rebuild the organization. No doubt Osman wanted a deniable ops force that could be used against the Citadel races. Of course, the new Illusive Man obviously had his own autonomy, given his insane desire to harness the Flood, which even ONI would know is a stupid idea.

The Sith Lord himself already knew the foolishness of attempting to control the Flood, not only from experience with the Necromorphs and the Reapers, but also from the stories of the Great Flood War.

Back before the Parasite had corrupted the Force itself, a pretender faction known as the One Sith attempted to reach out and control the Flood through various rituals of Sith Alchemy.

Little detail had reached out afterwards, but all that was known for sure was the One Sith's attempt backfired horribly, and that UNSC and Covenant forces had reduced Korriban to a field of glass, followed by the detonation of several NOVA bombs within the system. At this point, it was unclear if Korriban even existed as a planet anymore.

And Maul himself knew better than anyone: nothing was safe when the Parasite came out to play. There was no way to control them, and any attempt to do so was doomed to failure... and worse.

"You're lying." The Illusive Man's denial broke Maul out of his musings and he focused on the hologram, still smirking.

"Why would I?" The Sith countered. "I have no reason to. And if you don't believe me, ask your boss. Maybe she'll tell you."

With that, Maul ended the holocall before the Illusive Man could retort, turning to see a fuming Aria standing there with her arms crossed. The Sith Lord didn't need the Force to know that she was angry. And it wasn't because she hadn't gotten the last word over the Illusive Man.

"And when were you going to tell me what you knew about him?" The asari demanded, her tone cold.

"When it actually became relevant." Maul replied calmly. "Now, I believe it's time we prepare for a Cerberus attack."

"After what you just said, you're sure they'll come?" Aria asked.

"They will." Maul replied. "I have forseen it."

Aria blinked, having forgotten the rumors that Force-users had precognition in addition to their other powers. Some people still didn't believe they could. Aria knew otherwise, but she also knew their clairvoyance wasn't 100% perfect. Still, she would trust his judgement, for now anyway.

"I'll give the order to prepare for battle." Aria said. "I lost my station once. I don't plan on losing it again."

"And you won't." The Sith stated. "My forces will make sure of it."

* * *

Cronos Station II

The Illusive Man sat in his chair staring at his hands, before looking at his reflection in the glossy black surface of his office. He didn't want to believe it, but he couldn't help but feel that what Maul said was true.

He knew resurrection was technically possible; after all, Cerberus had brought Commander Shepard back from the dead. But he also knew how being cloned could also be used as a form of resurrection. And it didn't help that it matched up with his own psyche.

He had all the memories of the Illusive Man, right up until after the events on Thessia during the Reaper war. He had learned about Horizon, the previous Cronos Station and some of the events on Earth afterwards, but could never remember it.

After Thessia, the last thing he did remember was waking up in a hospital, surrounded by ONI technicians. They had told him that parts of his memory had been lost when he was resurrected due to trauma sustained during the Battle of Earth, and the long time between those events and his revival.

Now though, it was clear that they had been lying. He wasn't the true Illusive Man, he was a meat puppet made by him to serve as a backup for the worst case scenario. It was disheartening, but he refused to give in to despair.

If he was meant to be a continuation of the Illusive Man, then he would be the best damn Illusive Man ever. He would surpass his progenitor and raise Cerberus to new heights, ONI be damned.

All that could wait however: First things first, there was Omega to deal with. Activating the communication pad once more, he contacted General Petrovsky, who immediately answered.

"It's time, General." The Illusive Man said. "Set course for Omega."


	15. Battle of Omega

UNSC Point of No Return

Admiral Serin Osman watched the feed from the Illusive Man's inner sanctum, observing his obvious breakdown at the shocking news. She knew that this would happen eventually, and had prepared accordingly.

Osman wasn't really surprised that the Illusive Man had taken the reveal that he was a clone rather badly. What she hadn't expected was for him to order an all-out attack on Omega against her orders. She couldn't give him any support.

It was clear that Cerberus had slipped off her leash. The only question was, what to do about it? She still believed that the human supremacist organization could be useful to her, but if this kept happening, she wouldn't hesitate to hand his location over to the authorities of the IDA.

Her spies had done a much more thorough scan of Cerberus' systems, removing any blackmail material that could be used against ONI. If Harper tried to blame her, he wouldn't have any evidence that would make it believable.

Still, it wasn't necessary to throw Cerberus under the bus. Not yet anyway. In the meantime, there was still Omega to deal with. Switching her feed over to the edge of the system, she watched and waited, feeling glad that the Merchant was able to complete his mission before the battle would begin.

* * *

En route to Omega

General Oleg Petrovsky stood at the helm of his flagship, leading the charge towards Omega. They were heading towards the space station at FTL speeds, which while it would take longer than using the Mass Relays, it was still much faster thanks to studying Reaper technology and some minor help from the galaxy far far away.

Many technical advances had also been made since the Reaper war, including the new ammo system, where thermal clips could be swapped out if one wished to keep firing, or kept in and cooled if they preferred to wait a while. Other advances included increased FTL discharge times; before the Reaper war, FTL drives had to be routinely discharged into an atmosphere or special docking bays, otherwise it would risk discharging into the ship and frying the crew.

Now though, the discharge could instead be routed to help keep the ship running instead, which would allow increased time spent in FTL. Combine that with a new FTL speed of approximately 50 to 100 lightyears a day, and suddenly the mass relays weren't as relevant anymore. Oh, they would still be used, as they were still the fastest method of FTL travel available in their galaxy, but military strategists were no longer able to rely on using the relays as chokepoints.

This allowed new advantages to be gained in space combat, but Petrovsky knew that it wouldn't be a game changer. He was fighting against a galactic civilization that had centuries of practice using this type of FTL and versatility, despite their criminal nature. His only real hope was getting boots on Omega as fast as possible, hopefully allowing them to shut the defenses down. The irony of using the exact same strategy that Aria had used against him all those years ago was not lost on the General, but this time he needed to stack the game more heavily in his favor.

A massive Cerberus armada had been sent, the increased construction abilities that had been gained from Reaper technology had been invaluable in creating such a large fleet in a short amount of time. They outnumbered the Shadow Collective forces at five to one odds, which was exactly what they needed. Of course, another problem for Cerberus was that most of the ships had minimal crew, thanks to a lack of manpower; some of them were even controlled with a VI. One way or another though, Petrovsky would soon find out whether or not it would be enough to punch through Omega's defenses.

Soon enough, the Cerberus fleet emerged from FTL just outside Omega. The mushroom shaped Asteroid dominated the asteroid field it was close by, and dwarfed the fleet that surrounded it.

Cruisers and frigates of the Eclipse and Blue Sun private fleets were present in bulk, as were Aria's own forces. But the real threat for the Cerberus fleet would come from the Shadow Collective warships present around the station.

Aggressor-class destroyers, Keldalbe-class battleships, Vengeance and Interceptor-IV class frigates, Crusader-class corvettes, StarViper fighters and so many more other types of vessels were present as well. Ultimately, Cerberus outnumbered all the combined forces at a ratio of five to one, but it was clear to the General that this fight would be anything but easy.

...

"It appears that Cerberus has arrived." Maul smirked, looking at the holoscreen.

"Just as you predicted." Aria said sardonically, albeit with a hint of admiration.

They were standing in Afterlife, the club having been cleared of all patrons, leaving only Maul, Savage, Aria, and their top lieutenants and commanders with them. Attendants had hastily helped convert the club into a command center, having kept some of the leftover equipment and changes made when Petrovsky had taken this place as his own command center.

"Your orders?" Maul said, to the Pirate Queen's confusion. "This is your station."

Aria knew that the Sith Lord was just doing that to humor and annoy her, but ultimately, she didn't care. Last time Cerberus had invaded, they drove her from her own station. This time, they wouldn't get the opportunity. Taking a second to savor the moment, Aria then gave her orders.

"Fire all weapons. Wipe them from the skies."

...

Cerberus' forces suffered heavy losses as they engaged the enemy fleet. Many of them were taken down by the firepower of the Shadow Collective warships: Aggressor destroyers alone accounted for nearly a dozen Cerberus cruisers. Those that managed to get past were shot down by Omega's defenses.

In spite of the resistance, Cerberus forces were able to land their forces on Omega, in an almost exact mirror of Aria's previous attack. But as the criminal defenders moved to meet this resistance, Cerberus released their secret weapons.

Xenomorphs, who had been locked in crates and cages for a long time. They were extremely hostile, attacking anything that they saw, and unfortunately for Omega's defenders, Cerberus made sure that the first things they saw was Omega's inhabitants.

In response to the xenomorph infestation and the Cerberus invasion, the Shadow Collective brought out the battle droids they had acquired some time ago, setting them loose against the invaders. But despite their efforts, Cerberus forces were able to get onboard the station, sacrificing a number of drone ships in order to get their troops onboard.

Meanwhile, while the battle raged around Omega, several Cerberus ships moved to bypass the fighting and headed straight for the Omega 4 relay. Once Cerberus got a foothold back there, it wouldn't matter how the battle went here.

Unfortunately for the human supremacists, Maul had already seen that coming, and had his forces mine both sides of the relay. The resulting explosions wiped out the Cerberus detachments.

Just beyond the reach of Omega's own defenses, several Cerberus vessels rammed their way into the heart of the Shadow Collective formations. These were no ordinary cruisers, however. These fireships were meant to sacrifice themselves in order to clear a hole for the rest of the force, and that is exactly what they did.

Mini-suns erupted among the Shadow Collective fleet, consuming a dozen capital ships in a raging inferno. This punched a large enough hole for hundreds of shuttles to break into the station, disgorging hundreds of troops all over Omega.

Cerberus wasn't allowed to spread throughout the station completely unmolested, as Shadow Collective soldiers, street gangs, reprogrammed Rampart Mechs, and Maul's stolen battle droids were there to meet them.

Soon the station as a whole erupted in a firestorm of blood and violence (moreso than usual anyway), as it felt like history was repeating itself, especially in the eyes of the Talons. Urban combat was the name of the game, as guerilla warfare was waged all throughout the city.

The streets were too narrow for heavy tanks, but Atlas Mechs and heavily armed speeders provided extra firepower to turn the tides back and forth. In turn, they became targets for heavy weapons specialists, as rockets from the Collective's mercenaries lanced out and struck the offending Cerberus mechs head on.

Maul's Mandalorians were a godsend to the criminal forces; armed with a versatile arsenal of weaponry and flight capabilities, the Supercommandos tore through many Cerberus positions, the human-supremacists being hard pressed to deal with them.

In response, Cerberus chose to bring several of the buildings down on top of the defenders heads, crushing them to death. This had the secondary effect of clearing paths through the station.

Of course, the citizenry of Omega did not intend for Cerberus to get in so easily. Many of them still remembered the last time the human-supremacist organization had been in charge, and they had no intention of letting that happen again. They would rather die before allowing Cerberus to take over.

Meanwhile, the xenomorphs spread throughout the chaos, ambushing and killing any in their path. Although Cerberus had released them, the alien monsters were indiscriminate in their targets, contributing to the bloody atmosphere that gripped the station.

* * *

As the battle raged high above between the criminals and Cerberus, the bulk of people living in the lower levels and slums of the station couldn't be bothered to care. Violence was nothing new on Omega, so most of the denziens ignored the fighting, as even Cerberus couldn't be bothered to come down here during their takeover.

Their apathy changed rather quickly as dozens of jet black monsters started swarming into the slums, attacking anyone they saw, several of which were dragged away into any nearby vents.

The denziens were damn near helpless to strike back, the only ones having any real success were vorcha. But due to a lack of effective weapons, many were slaughtered by the xenomorphs.

However, in one of the deepest areas, near an old incineration complex, what few survivors remained had gathered and held up in this place of relative safety. Multiple xenomorphs moved to break into the complex, but paused when they encountered a woman standing just outside, completely unafraid of the monsters that gathered around her, hiding in the dark.

They soon discovered why, as the darkness was suddenly illuminated by a blood-red light. Asajj Ventress stood in front of the building, illuminated by the glow of her lightsabers. With a shrieking screech, one xenomorph lunged at her, only for the Nightsister to swiftly duck under it, slice through its tail, and stab it through the chest.

Another of the serpents had tried to flank around her, only for Ventress to backflip over and decapitate it. Meanwhile, one Runner had climbed to a high vantage point over her and spat a glob of acid.

Quickly, Ventress' lightsaber dissolved the liquid, and she pulled the alien down with the Force, bisecting and avoiding the resulting blood spray as she did. At this display, the rest of the xenomorphs paused, causing the Nightsister to smirk and point the edge of one of her blades at them.

"Who's next?"

* * *

Far from the raging battle proper, a team of Cerberus commandos had made their way to the station's load-bearing columns, killing the few guards present. The bulk of the security here had been part of Aria's own forces and Talons, along with a few Shadow Collective mercenaries mixed in.

With them dead and everyone occupied by the battle outside, there was nothing to stop Cerberus from the same plan they had previously, only this time, they wouldn't hesitate to collapse Omega.

"Excuse me." Every gun turned in the voice's direction, as Felix stood in the middle of the room like an actor on a stage. "Now, I don't believe any of you have the clearance to be in here, so I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to leave."

Gunfire roared in response, but Felix pulled out his light shield just in time, which held against the barrage of mass accelerator fire. Still, the protection wouldn't last long; several troops were moving to flank him, but were suddenly gunned down by sniper fire.

Locus targeted those soldiers who attempted to flank his partner, and gunning down any Nemesis sniper that attempted to get a bead on him. Meanwhile, Felix was in the thick of combat, having holstered his DMR in favor of a shotgun, he was using it in conjunction with his light shield, using the latter to bludgeon anyone who got too close.

As the two partners carved through the Cerberus demolition team, Locus noticed a slight shimmer behind Felix. Just as he was about to shoot, he heard the slightest of foot steps behind him, and rolled out of his sniper position just before a dark energy infused sword slashed right where he used to be.

"Behind you!" He shouted over the comms as he ducked under the Phantom's next swing.

Meanwhile, Felix spun around just in time to intercept the Phantom's blade with his light shield, just before it could take his head off. He brought his shotgun to bear, but the ninja flipped away, avoiding the full brunt of the buckshot.

Felix moved forward to increase the effectiveness of his gun, but the Phantom managed to duck under the second shell and slice the weapon in half, causing Felix to stagger back and bring his shield back up, as the Phantom's palm blaster wore it down while she closed in.

"Fine, we'll do this the hard way."

Snarling, Felix pulled out a combat knife and parried the Phantom's next blow, the metal managing to hold against the Phantom's sword. Felix responded by kicking the Phantom and she staggered back a step, the barrier having taken most of the blow.

On the catwalk, Locus was having his own trouble, lacking any meaningful close combat weapons of his own. He ducked and weaved around the Phantom's swings, narrowly avoiding the monomolecular sword each time.

Realizing he couldn't do this forever, he activated his cloaking device, slipping up the Phantom for a second as she lost track of him for a moment. Putting some distance between her, Locus pulled out his SAW, and unloaded a full clip into the Phantom.

The Cerberus ninja closed the distance rapidly, managing to get into range just as the SAW ran out, which only just managed to break through her barrier. She moved to decapitate Locus, but the mercenary ducked, then grabbed her center mass and flipped her off the catwalk.

There was a sickening crack below as Locus turned to discover that the assassin had landed on her head, her neck twisted at an inadvisable angle. An explosion drew his attention to the other side of the chamber, where Felix had managed to catch the Phantom in a grenade explosion, draining her barriers.

The Cerberus soldier didn't have time to retaliate, as a knife flew into her skull immediately after. Felix chuckled as he pulled the knife from his opponent's corpse, spilling blood all over the floor.

"Well that was fun."

"Stop talking and disarm the explosives." Locus growled, jumping down to the main floor.

"Yeah, yeah." His partner sighed. "Though it would be nice if you helped me."

Silently, the two mercenaries got to work, deactivating the explosives already on the main columns, and gathering up the charges that hadn't been placed. As soon as that was done, Locus called command.

"Lord Maul, we've completed the mission." He said. "All hostiles in the area are dead."

"Good work. Several squads will be there shortly to reinforce you. Once they arrive, they'll give you your new assignment."

"Looking forward to it." Felix said, tossing a knife into the head of a dead Centurion.

"Understood." His partner said, ignoring Felix's antics. "Locus out."

* * *

The squad at the loading columns were only one of many Cerberus special forces teams deployed throughout the station. Lacking the ability to force Aria off the station like last time, Petrovsky had ordered a number of disruptions to Omega that would hopefully distract her. It wasn't a brilliant plan, but with so little time to prepare, it was the best he could come up with on short notice.

In another section of the station, several squads of Cerberus forces snuck through the back alleys of the station as they headed to their primary goal. Their target; Afterlife, where they would assassinate Aria and cut off the coordinated defense.

This was in the hopes that they would be able to kill the asari long before she knew they were there. Of course, with Darth Maul present as well, it was going to be more difficult, but not impossible. Overall, their task was going well, as they were soon at the outside of Afterlife itself.

...

"Aria, we may have a problem."

"What is it, Bray?" She snarled, turning to the Batarian.

"We've got Cerberus troops outside the club." The Batarian hesitantly replied. "They seem to be going towards the hidden entrance."

"Divert the nearest squads to intercept." She ordered. "I refuse to have Cerberus dirty my club once more."

"Belay that." Savage said, suddenly. "I'll deal with them myself."

And with that, the Nightbrother stalked away, while Maul's eyes never left the holoscreen, though he had a small smirk on his face.

...

The assassins had broken into the hidden entrance, the one that they had known about due to Cerberus' previous control over the station. They had been prepared for a fight as soon as they broke in, which made it all the more unnerving when they were met with silence.

Initially, they thought that they had managed to blindside the Pirate Queen, though that was unlikely. Aria had grown more paranoid in the last few decades, and would be unlikely to be unaware of their arrival. So, why was there no one here?

Suddenly, the assassins became aware of rather loud breathing coming from the darkness behind them. They turned in time to see two red lightsaber blades lit up the dark hallway, revealing the large yellow and black tattooed Zabrak standing behind in front of them.

Savage Opress lunged forward, his dual blades twirling as he carved a path through the Cerberus forces with ease. Limbs and bodies flew everywhere, while brutal Force pushes broke spines and necks from the impact.

It didn't take long for the professional squad of soldiers to be reduced to a pile of maimed bodies on the ground. Savage searched the Force for any more life signs nearby. Finding none, the Nightbrother returned to the club proper.

He arrived just in time to see Aria contacting Petrovsky himself, who appeared in a life-like appearance on the holotable. "Your assassins have lost, Oleg." She boasted, noticing the Nightbrother's return. "Your attack has proven to be an annoyance, nothing more."

"It didn't have to be this way, Aria." The Cerberus General said. "All we wanted was access to the Omega 4 relay."

"How stupid do you think I am?" The asari spat. "I'm not falling for it, General." He sighed.

"Then I bear no responsibility for what happens next."

As soon as he said that, the holoscreen lit up once more. Around Omega, another hundred Cerberus vessels decanted from FTL, arriving at the flank of the defending ships. Wasting no time, they fired as soon as they were in range, taking the criminal warships by surprise.

Dozens of the defending vessels suffered badly, the smaller ones were all but vaporized, while the larger ships were all but crippled. Even Maul's Aggressor destroyers and Keldalbe battleships had been hurt badly by the surprise attack, the former now especially vulnerable because of their slow turning speed.

"I will give you one last chance to surrender." Petrovsky said. "If you refuse, I will be forced to destroy Omega, level by level, until nothing is left but dust. It is over, Aria."

The Cerberus general paused as Aria smiled wickedly, the opposite reaction to what he had hoped to see on her face. She chuckled grimly as Darth Maul walked into view beside her, his hands clasped behind his back.

"You're right." The Pirate Queen retorted. "It is over."

Right as she said that, nearly a hundred Shadow Collective warships arrived in the system. They had now surrounded Omega, trapping Cerberus between the guns of their arrival, and the defenses of the station.

* * *

With the arrival of the two sets of reinforcements, both sides increased their attempts to take control of the station. Cerberus had attempted to take over the station's weapon systems to turn them against the criminals, but found themselves repelled each time. Maul had deployed his annihilator droid outside the firing controls, which was racking up a large bodycount by itself. Combined with the supporting fire of the defending mercenaries, and Cerberus was not getting anywhere near the firing controls.

Meanwhile, at the docking bays still controlled by Cerberus, the human-supremacists were still off loading all the troops they could while under fire from the station's guns. The largest ships were gathered in a circle, being used as cover and artillery against the horde of criminals that wanted to take the ships down.

Many of Omega's inhabitants were untrained and ill-equipped, and so were gunned down with ease as more and more Cerberus forces arrived. As a result of the attack, none of the soldiers noted the shimmering silhouettes that planted explosives on their ships.

They only realized the danger as their transports were consumed in a blinding flash of light and fire, disrupting the Cerberus position and killing dozens instantly. From their position away from the docking bay, Locus and Felix watched impassively as the ships burned, the criminals capitalizing on their new found advantage to take revenge on the Cerberus attackers.

It hadn't been easy to plant the charges on the Cerberus landing craft, but the constant cannon fodder used against the attackers had provided enough of a distraction for the two mercs to get the task done.

Felix couldn't help but revel in the irony that demolition charges used to destroy the ships were the same ones Cerberus planned to use to destroy Omega's structure. Now, with the largest concentration of Cerberus soldiers dead, the attack onboard the station began to lose hold, as the chain of command fractured in the wake of the disruption.

...

Back in Afterlife, Aria looked at a hologram of Omega, which was swarming with blue and red dots. She watched with grim satisfaction as more and more of the red dots winked out, signifying Cerberus' removal from her station.

It wasn't completely finished; there were still pockets of soldiers who had managed to hole up in defendable locations, not to mention the xenomorphs still running rampant on her station, but overall, the Cerberus attack had completely lost steam, mere hours after it started. In another couple of hours, Cerberus would once again be completely evicted from her station.

"It seems the battle is already over." Aria said, looking at the Zabrak standing next to her from the corner of her eye. "All we have left are a few holdouts, and they won't last long."

"Indeed." Maul nodded. "But we are not quite finished yet." He hit a control on the holotable. The image shifted to the space battle outside, before settling in on the Cerberus flagship. "Your revenge needs to be completed."

Aria felt her fist clench as she glared at the Cerberus dreadnought. Petrovsky had ousted her from Omega once, and with Shepard, she had opted to show him mercy for that sin. This time, there would be no mercy for him.

"Prepare a boarding party." She said. "I want that ship intact."

Smirking, Maul nodded, giving the order.

* * *

Back in space, the battle was not going so well. Cerberus reinforcements had arrived, hoping to turn the tide in this battle and destroy these criminals, but apparently, Maul and Aria had been waiting for that, as more ships exited hyperspace and FTL, trapping Cerberus in a pincer manuever.

And it wouldn't be one they could escape from easily: In addition to their own reinforcements, the Shadow Collective had hyperspaced in an Interdictor vessel, which had activated its gravity wells to keep the ships from jumping to FTL. To make things worse, Hapan shadow mines had been deployed, ensuring Cerberus was trapped here.

The battle raged in earnest, as laser fire and mass accelerators tore through the vacuum. In spite of their numbers, the smaller ships of the Cerberus fleet were easy prey for the forces of the Shadow Collective. The Cerberus flagship was in the center of the fleet, and Petrovsky watched helplessly as his ships were cut off and destroyed, leaving his forces on the station defenseless.

An ion bolt from an Aggressor-class Destroyer impacted the vessel, shutting down all systems except for the backup life support. Oleg winced and waited for the follow-up plasma shot, but it never came. It didn't take a genius to figure out why. They were going to board his ship.

His suspicions were confirmed by a dozen boarding craft heading towards the ship. Mostly consisting of Dekard transports, they would burn their way through the hull, and deposit squads of infantry all through the ship. And there was nothing he could do to stop it.

The Cerberus dreadnought was now dead in space. Petrovsky was helpless as the boarding party made their way to the bridge. He couldn't even order the vessel to self-destruct, the ion bolt had completely shut that ability off.

Petrovsky cursed how badly the attack had gone. He had desired more time to plan the assault, but the Illusive Man had ordered him in with little chance to prepare for the battle. Not that it would've mattered very much.

Now, Petrovsky waited with the bridge crew as the sounds of fighting got closer and closer. Screams of terror and agony could be heard even behind the blast doors, along with the terrifying noise of lightsabers being used.

The crew of the bridge cocked their weapons as the sounds of struggle could be heard right outside. Abruptly, all noise cut off, leaving a brief but deafening silence in its midst. That silence didn't last long as two red energy blades bore through the sides of the door, cutting through the blast shield with ease.

Once they cut through completely, the blades retracted, and for a moment all was silent again. Then the door was blown forward at inhuman speeds, cutting one of the guards in half from the sheer speed.

A number of flashbangs flew through as well, detonating and stunning the defenders, including Petrovsky. This allowed the Commando droids to move in first, ruthlessly gunning down the crew with cold efficiency.

Petrovsky blinked away the haze in his vision and tried to fight back, but was knocked to the ground by a metallic fist as the rest of the bridge crew was killed. Apparently, he was being prepared for a much darker fate.

Sure enough, once the bridge crew was dead, the General was hauled up by his shoulders and brought before the two Zabraks who had led the assault. Loyal to the Cerberus cause, Petrovsky spat in the Sith Lord's face.

"I will tell you nothing." He said. The Sith just smiled.

"You shouldn't be concerned about that." The two Zabraks stepped to the side, allowing the purple skinned asari behind them to step forward. Petrovsky's eyes widened in horror. With a furious look on her face, the asari rushed forward, wrapping her hands around his neck and pushing him onto the console.

"You shouldn't have come back, Petrovsky." Aria whispered, slowly throttling the life out of him. "Shepard's not here to save you this time."

Oleg's vision blurred as his breath slowly disappeared, but he could still make out the figure of Darth Maul as he walked over to Aria's side, his head over her shoulder. In spite of what was happening to him, that image gave him a greater feeling of unease.

"Do you wish him to suffer?" Maul whispered in her ear.

She did, she really did. And as much as she hated to admit it, what he could inflict on the General would pale compared to what the Sith would do. She released her grip on Petrovsky, who felt a glimmer of hope at the sensation. That hope immediately died on seeing Maul approach him. Before the Zabrak could get started, Aria grabbed his arm and gave him a warning.

"His death is mine." Aria stated. "I'm going to be the one to kill him." Maul smirked.

"As you wish."

The Sith Lord took over, choking the General through the Force and lifting him into the air. Extending his hands, the Zabrak pumped lightning into the former Alliance soldier, causing him to scream. Aria had to admire it, listening to the General's screams of pure agony, that Maul's lightning was far more painful than anything she could possibly do.

The onlookers watched in either horror or bored disinterest, with the exception of Savage, who had a grim smile on his face, Aria, who was wearing a satisfied smirk, and Maul, who was clearly enjoying every second of this.

The General's screams slowly died when Maul abruptly cut off the lightning, letting the General fall to the ground. Patches of smoke wafted off his body, as the electricity had scorched through clothing and flesh, leaving Petrovsky in agony.

Aria stood over the General, her cold eyes staring at the man before him. He was a high ranking member of Cerberus, an organization who gave no regards to the lives of any species, including their own.

Oleg Petrovsky was the man who drove her from Omega, imprisoned the population, and intended to turn many of them into mindless monsters. Now the once proud General was a pitiful wreck, begging helplessly for his life.

There was no sympathy or pity from her for his suffering. She had offered him mercy once, at the behest of Commander Shepard. She wouldn't offer him another chance. Silently, she pulled out her sidearm and fired a single round into his head, instantly ending his life, and ultimately, the battle.

* * *

After the battle, Omega had to be rebuilt once more. Thankfully, the damage wasn't as severe as the previous conquest of Omega, but there was still a new problem. Xenomorphs had spread throughout the station, disappearing in all the chaos to spread panic and fear around them.

Maul had ordered battle droids to clear out large pockets of xenomorphs, in some cases flooding all sectors of the station with fire to clear them out. Hunter-killer teams led by Mandalorians hunted down the stragglers, occasionally attempting to capture the creatures to sell them, but mostly just killing them before they could do more harm.

While that was happening, another change was being made to Omega proper; after the fighting had died down, Maul had proposed turning the station into a fortress, to guard against future attacks. Aria had taken some convincing, but in the end she agreed, allowing more and more weapons, armor, and shield generators to be placed onboard.

In time, the station would be unassailable to all but the most dedicated of Terminus battle fleets. It would be unable to stand up against a concerted strike from the IDA powers, and sure as hell wouldn't last long against the Republic or Separatists, but considering current events, it was unlikely they would be focused on Omega any time soon.

However, while Aria had allowed the Sith's forces enough free reign to set up the new defenses they needed, she noticed that some of them seemed to be doing other tasks: Some were setting up hardpoints on Omega's hull, while others were strangely shipping in a large amount of hyperdrives and interdimensional drives.

It seemed that Darth Maul had another plan in mind, though she wasn't sure what it was yet. All the same, Aria kept an eye on the work, knowing that she would have to eliminate the Zabrak soon if she wanted to hold onto her power.

To that end, Aria had made sure her trusted servants would dispose of a large amount of xenomorph corpses by throwing them into an old incineration complex, so none of the Shadow Collective would figure out who had killed them and where she was hiding.

By the time Darth Maul knew, it would be too late for him.


	16. Discussions

Cronus Station II

The Illusive Man sat in his chair, cursing himself for his foolishness. He had let his emotions and feelings get the better of him, and ordered a direct assault on Omega with little to no preparation.

And because of that, he had lost an inordinate amount of Cerberus' resources, including his best tactician. The battle for Omega had been a complete disaster. And there was no denying that he had played a large role in making sure that happened.

He had ordered General Petrovsky in with no plan and no backup, and Petrovsky had paid the price for that mistake. With everything gone, he needed to rebuild and quickly. Fortunately, opportunity had presented itself.

His intelligence sources had determined that a large cache of Prothean technology had been discovered by a team of scientists independent of anyone in the IDA. Already, he had dispatched an agent with a strike force to retrieve it.

Speaking of which, a call was coming in from said agent at this moment. Taking another drag of his cigarette, he chose to wait a moment, to remind this person of who had the power here, before he connected the call. The hologram sprung up, revealing the image of an old friend/enemy: Rasa, also known by such aliases such as Hope Lilium or Maya Brooks.

Originally, the Illusive Man was willing to terminate her for killing his troops and absconding with the Shepard clone. However, during their attempt to break out Petrovsky, they had recovered her as well, and she offered her services once more.

Obviously, the Illusive Man didn't trust her, but at the same time was loathe to throw away a good agent. So, she underwent surgery in which a tiny explosive charge was planted on her heart. At any time if she didn't follow orders, she would be killed.

"Rasa." He said in greeting. "I take it the mission didn't go as planned?"

"There was a complication." She said. "Commander Shepard was at the site."

"Unfortunate." He took a drag from his cigarette and blew a whiff of smoke into the air. "An ambush?"

"I don't think so, sir." Rasa replied. "He actually seemed to be an escort for the science team. But that's not the worrying thing; he was working with two Republic agents." That made the Cerberus leader pause.

"You're certain about that?"

"Fairly certain." She said simply. "They were far more dangerous and powerful than the Commander's usual allies."

"Send me your report." The Illusive Man ordered. "Then return to base."

"Yes sir." The holoprojector switched off.

Moments later, Rasa's preliminary report came in, and he started to read and observe. For a moment, he thought this was a joke: their outfits looked like something only a clown would wear, but they proved how dangerous they were when they took down most of Rasa's soldiers in moments. What was also noticeable was the fact that they managed to take a majority of his soldiers alive, something that was normally very difficult in battle.

The Illusive Man couldn't help but grimace at the news; Commander Shepard was indeed working with Republic agents, two dangerous ones at that. He didn't like the odds of his organization triumphing against these two, even if they seemed more moralistic than even Shepard.

This turn of events could provide some good fortune, however. If the Spectre could be turned towards the Shadow Collective, then maybe one (or both) of his enemies would destroy each other.

* * *

Scimitar

From the bridge of his flagship, Darth Maul watched as his forces worked with Aria's to turn Omega from an old mining asteroid into a dangerous battle station. Construction was going smoothly, but progress was slow, as there wasn't enough manpower to complete construction in a timely manner.

Turning away from the viewport, he walked to the briefing room, where Savage was already speaking with the leaders who had arrived. The Black Sun and Zann Consortium commanders bowed their heads at his approach, with the Blue Suns, Blood Pack, and Eclipse heads following suit seconds later.

"Status report."

"Lord Maul, construction of the defenses are at 44%." Commander Saxon reported. "At this rate, the project will not be complete in time."

"We need more manpower, Brother." Savage said, matching Maul's own thoughts. "Aria's forces are insufficient, and she's refusing to force the civilians within Omega to speed along the construction."

"Then we must look elsewhere." Maul turned to the mercenary commanders. "And that's where you come in."

"What do you need us to do, Lord Maul?" The Falleen Black Sun representative asked.

"We need a fresh source of labor and we need it soon." Maul said. "Contact the nearest slaving rings and get their help, no matter the cost."

"Lord Maul, that may not be wise." Solem Del'serah hesitantly pointed out.

"He is correct." Sayn agreed. "The IDA has been cracking down on slavers for the past decade; the market is just not thriving anymore."

"Then we get them from the Terminus systems." Ganar Yulaz interjected in a bored tone. "There's plenty of fresh meat we can get from there."

"And then we risk running into conflict with Batarian pirates." Del'serah retorted. "Hell it'd be cheaper just to buy from the Kig-Yar."

"That will cost us more than we could gain." Sayn replied. "We do not need to risk running afoul of the UNSC or the Swords of Sanghelios."

"Then what do you propose?" Yulaz said. "Cause at this rate, it would probably be easier just to pick up some Vorcha for slave labor."

"The point is to finish this quickly, not have those vermin wreck it."

"Then what are you saying, pyjack?"

"I'm saying that-hurrk!"

All three of the Terminus mercenary leaders began choking and gasping at their throats as Maul raised his hand partway into the air with a bored expression on his face. The Eclipse, Blood Pack and Blue Suns leaders figured out the source pretty quickly, and turned to the Sith even as they spluttered for air.

"I don't care how you get the manpower, just get it done!" And with that, he released his hold on the three of them, leaving them gasping and panting. He turned away from them and looked at the holotable.

"Now go." He said, not even bothering to look at them.

Del'serah, Sayn and Yulaz didn't need to be told twice. They all but ran from the room, while the Black Sun and Zann Consortium leaders followed at a brisk pace, leaving Maul alone with Savage and his Mandalorians.

"It's so hard to find good help these days." Just then, the nearest comm panel blinked. Savage looked at the message, then turned back to Maul.

"It's as we feared, Brother." The taller Zabrak stated. "The IDA seem rather determined to send a force into the Terminus Systems."

"ONI's influence, no doubt." The Sith snarled. "We need more time for construction to be completed."

"Perhaps, Aria can be of use for that." Maul gave Savage a quizzical look. "She has connections to the Asari councilor, does she not?"

"You've learned well, my apprentice." Maul smiled. "Perhaps Aria can make herself useful for once."

The red and black tattooed Zabrak walked over to the holoprojector and placed a call. It didn't take long for the hologram of Aria to appear.

"What is it?"

"We have a complication." Maul stated. "One that you may be able to handle."

"I'm listening."

* * *

Citadel

Councilor Tevos sat in her office, having just finished another Council meeting. It was the standard affair, discussing changes to the economy, the military, and foreign relations with the rest of the IDA.

Most recently, the IDA had been pressing to be allowed access into the Terminus Systems. With the reports that Darth Maul and the bulk of the Shadow Collective had been sighted there, and most of the agencies of the IDA wanted to go in.

The Council had been delaying them as best as they could, preferring not to risk a war with both the Terminus Systems and the Shadow Collective, but mainly desiring to keep the more powerful factions from gaining access to the Terminus, and surrounding the Citadel on all sides.

Her musings were interrupted when she noticed a call coming in on her omni-tool. The number was unlisted, but it was quite clear to Tevos who was calling. After activating a jamming device to suppress the bugs in her office, the asari councilor accepted the call, revealing a small hologram of Aria T'Loak.

"Aria." She stated unenthusiastically. "What an unexpected surprise."

"Long time no see, Tevos." The Pirate Queen stated. "I need a favor."

"Of course you do." The Councilor sighed. "What do you need from me this time?"

"I need you to shut down the IDA's movement into the Terminus Systems."

That gave Tevos pause. It was something she was trying to do regardless, but for the Pirate Queen of Omega to request the same, something big must be happening there. Hesitantly, she looked around to make sure no one was there.

"And why would you want that exactly?" Tevos asked cautiously.

"Why Tevos, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were growing a back bone." Aria snarked before her face darkened. "My reasons are not your concern. Now, are you going to do this, or will I have to make it complicated?"

"I'll delay them as best as I can." Tevos said quickly.

"That's what I like to hear." Aria's hologram disappeared at that sentence.

Tevos sighed as the call ended. She was, as the human expressions said, caught between a rock and a hard place. Deactivating her omni-tool with a groan, she began thinking of how she could convince the rest of the Council to go along with this.

* * *

Aite (Two weeks later)

The planet of Aite was a paradise of a garden world, but long term colonization plans were never going to work for very long. The main reason for this was the unstable orbit of the planet's moon, which would collide with Aite in a century or so.

That alone was a problem even if the planet hadn't been deep in the Terminus Systems, but since it was, any attempts to actually govern the place had been quashed decades ago. Now the planet was primarily used by criminals, including one group of slavers.

Two weeks ago, they had been offered a contract they couldn't refuse: Lately, the Shadow Collective had been buying slaves by the hundreds. Why, nobody could say, but they were willing to pay for any and all slaves capable of doing hard labor.

That was just fine for this mixed group of slavers, who were more than willing to sell. Consisting of species like Batarians, Zygerrians, Trandoshans, Kig-Yar and more, they made a decent living off the slave trade, as evidenced by the hundreds held in their camp.

Many of the males of each species were to sold as slave labor, or as personal slaves to exceedingly wealthy individuals. Female Humans, Asari and Twi'leks were to be sold to an even worse fate.

One female Twi'lek was suffering from this horror right now, as three guards were trying to get her to come with them. She had been sold, to who she didn't know, but she refused to leave her cell. The lead guard was attempting to 'persuade' her.

"There, there." The Batarian whispered in a soothing tone that he obviously didn't mean. "This won't hurt... much." The Twi'lek responded by kicking him in the crotch, causing him to bend over and making the other guards reach for their weapons.

"You little bitch!" The slaver snarled as he pulled out his pistol, and she knew that her little act of defiance had signed her own death warrant. She closed her eyes and waited for the end.

She heard a loud weapons discharge and felt a spray of blood all over her body, but she realized it wasn't hers when she heard the batarian screaming. Opening her eyes, she found that the scene had become a bloodbath.

The four-eyed alien had a pair of strange blades poking out from where the lower pair of eyes used to be. She remembered what little she heard of batarian culture and realized that they believed their souls exited their bodies through their eyes when they died.

The unknown attacker seemed to know this, and adding further insult to the dead slaver, carved its blades into the upper pair of eyes. The other two guards, a Trandoshan and a Zygerrian, lay on the ground in pools of their own blood, from decapitation and plasma blast through the chest, respectively.

The Twi'lek shrunk away as three massive hulking figures appeared out of thin air. She recognized them as Yautja and whimpered, terrified of what they would do to her. She had heard the rumors of course; these 'Predators' regarded all other species as prey to hunt. She could only imagine what sort of horrible fate was in store for her.

Which was why she was so surprised when the lead Yautja gently offered its hand to her, instead of violently pulling her out. For a long moment, she looked in shock, and stared at the masked face of her 'savior'.

"We're not going to hurt you." Hesitantly, she took his hand.

Meanwhile, the other Predators were killing their way through the guards at this base, liberating what slaves still remained. They were quiet and efficient, dispatching the slaves with minimal noise.

That soon changed when explosions rocked the building and the camp came alive with alarms. Telling the slaves to hide somewhere safe, the Yautja dropped the stealth and began targeting slavers with abandon.

...

O'rika looked around, disgusted at the slavers running this place. There were a number of things the Yautja found dishonorable and slavery was right up there on that list. So, when offered a chance to help burn this camp to the ground, the present Yautja had leapt at the opportunity.

They exited the camp to find the Empire of the Hand present in force, as the 501st made mincemeat of the ill-equipped slavers. The Yautja had snuck into the facility, lowering the defenses to allow the Imperials easy access into the camp. Now all the recently-freed slaves were being led to a transport, where they would be identified and returned to their homes.

A stormtrooper walked up to O'rika, and pulled off his helmet, revealing himself to be Commander Stent. "Thanks for the help."

"Our pleasure." The Yautja replied. "I just hope we also got what we came here for."

"That we did. It's the Shadow Collective." Stent replied. "They're the ones buying here. The logs and survivors confirm it."

"What's the destination?"

"Omega." Stent sighed. "Which unfortunately is out of the question for us right now, given the current political climate."

"Damn politicians." O'rika snarled. "I take it you have a plan?"

"I'm going to give this info to my superiors." Stent replied. "After that... I think they might have someone in mind for this."

* * *

Normandy SR-2

It was late when Liara T'Soni called. Shepard and Garrus (and EDI) were the only ones in the war room when the QEC signaled an incoming call, and when the Spectres answered, the hologram of the Shadow Broker appeared, both were surprised.

"Shepard, Garrus." The asari greeted. "It's good to see you."

"You too." Shepard said, giving her a longing look, one which she returned.

"Liara, always a pleasure." Garrus interjected. "But, I'm guessing this isn't a social call."

"I'm afraid you're correct." She sighed before putting on a professional tone. "I have news you may be interested in. The Empire of the Hand just took down a slaving ring on Aite."

"Ok, what does that have to do with us?" Shepard asked.

"They were working for the Shadow Collective, and shipping slaves to Omega." That gave the two Spectres pause. They had heard the rumors, but still found it hard to believe that Aria would willingly ally with a Sith Lord, but the evidence spoke for itself.

"This all seems to be coming back to Omega." Garrus said thoughtfully. "The Blood Pack, Blue Suns and Eclipse rejoin Aria, reports of increased piracy and raids on military installations in the Terminus and Outer Rim, now these slavers who apparently operate for Omega. Combine that with Tevos suddenly trying her hardest to keep the IDA bogged down in bureaucracy, and it paints a disturbing picture."

"The question is, why would Aria be risking so much to build an army?" Liara asked, since the Pirate Queen of Omega usually knew not to rock the boat.

The actions she was taking was drawing the attention of the IDA, and while their respective governments had often been content to ignore the crime-ridden areas, this was pushing their tolerance to its limits. The fact that they were preparing a military fleet to go into the Terminus Systems was proof of that.

"I'm not so sure that this _is_ Aria." Shepard interrupted his lover's contemplation. "This seems far too aggressive, even for her."

"What are you saying?"

"I think Darth Maul's manipulating her into doing what he wants."

"That seems pretty clear." Garrus stated. "Considering Tevos is trying to stall the IDA as much as possible, I think Aria's got something to do with it."

"And she's never been this direct before." The Shadow Broker added.

"Well, I guess it's up to us to go to Omega." Shepard sighed. "We need to know what's happening."

Being a Spectre, Shepard still technically had free reign to go wherever he pleased. Tevos couldn't exactly stop him and his crew from going to Omega on their own. And who knows? Maybe the Commander would be able to find out the truth from Aria.

"Hopefully, we won't run into Maul while we're there." Garrus muttered.

"EDI, set a course to Omega." Shepard ordered. "We're going to have a little chat with Aria."

"Yes, Shepard."

"There's one more thing I'd like to talk to you about, Shepard." Liara pointedly looked at Garrus, which Shepard quickly mirrored.

"I'll go let the rest of the team know." Garrus said, backing out of the room and leaving the human and asari alone.

When Garrus left the room, it was just Shepard and Liara now. The two lovers smiled wistfully at each other, wishing that they could be alone in person, instead of over a hologram.

"It's good to see you, Liara."

"Likewise." The Shadow Broker sighed. "I only wish we could do more."

"We'll manage." Shepard smiled cheekily, before his face turned to a business look. "But I'm guessing that's not the only reason you wanted to talk."

"You know me so well." Liara said. "Shepard, I need to ask a favor of your guests. The colorful ones."

* * *

Darth Maul was pleased. Construction on Omega was nearing completion, with nearly 90% of the new offensive and defensive systems active and online. All that remained now was the special construction he needed.

Now though, he was meditating through the Force, letting the tendrils of its current flow around him. It wasn't something he did often; meditating to see the future, but for once, there was nothing for him specifically to do.

All his forces were handling their jobs and even Savage was managing them without his help. That left Maul to decipher the future's meaning and see what he could possibly gain or lose in the near future. It didn't take long for the Dark Side to oblige.

He saw an image of a familiar man, with two shadowy figures behind him. The Sith dismissed those two shadows as unimportant details, nothing more than the lesser companions while the one in focus was the clear target.

"Shepard."

The image of the Commander was imprinted over Omega, once again with the shadowed figures, but Maul assumed that they were mere representations of the Spectre's companions. He was more interested in the fact that Omega was present in the background. Then the vision ended.

Opening his eyes, Darth Maul found himself back in his meditation room, mulling over what he had just seen. Shepard was coming to Omega, which many would consider a bad thing. Maul however, saw an opportunity.

The people in the Terminus Systems feared Shepard, and for good reason. Even Aria wouldn't make a move against the Commander. But, if Maul was able to capture and kill Shepard, then he could use that clout to take Omega by force. And that's not even considering what he could do with the Republic-upgraded Normandy.

This needed to be done carefully. Getting up from his seating position, Maul left the room. He now had something important to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to note, almost the entirety of New Opportunities takes place in the two week time skip at the end.


	17. Ambush

Omega

Aria T'Loak sat in her booth, reading the datapad that Bray had just handed to her. The news was interesting, to say the least. According to their sources in Citadel Space, Commander Shepard was apparently heading in the direction of the Terminus Systems.

Unfortunately, her people couldn't determine whether or not he was heading to Omega itself, or what his intentions even were. So she had no way of tracking his movements until he appeared again.

At one time, that wouldn't have been an issue: tracking the Normandy's general location and trail wasn't particularily difficult before the Reaper war (though actually getting the ship into combat on an enemy's terms was another matter altogether). But since the vessel had been upgraded with Republic technology, tracking the frigate was now damn near impossible.

Still, she had no reason to believe that Shepard was actually coming to Omega. And even if he was, she wasn't one to be concerned. Their relationship was... cordial, to say the least, and she had no desire to be his enemy.

Her musings were interrupted by the arrival of the two heads of the Shadow Collective entering her club. This wasn't a scheduled arrival, so they almost certainly had news she didn't want to hear. With a sigh, she put the datapad down and waited until they arrived in the booth, the guards quickly letting them pass until they were standing in front of her.

"What is it?" She said after a minute.

"Commander Shepard is coming here." Maul said, causing her to raise an eyeridge.

"You have my attention."

* * *

Normandy SR-2

The frigate dropped into normal space at the edge of the asteroid belt, approaching the station at sublight speeds. The cloaking device was active and the full scanning suite was operational, allowing the ship to get a good read on the fleet and station.

"Looks like the Shadow Collective is here in force." Joker said, gently weaving through the asteroids. "If Aria's not working with Maul directly, she's definitely tolerating him."

"It appears to be more than that." EDI replied. "I'm detecting new readings from Omega itself. It appears the station's defenses have been upgraded."

"Damn, that's a lot of firepower." The pilot peered at the screen carefully. "I'm not even sure I want to test the Normandy against that."

"Hopefully we won't have to." Shepard walked up behind the pilot and put his hand on his chair. "Now, I think it's time to announce ourselves to the neighbors."

The Republic-upgraded ship sent out a signal and message to Omega control, which immediately replied seconds later. "We have clearance to land." Joker said, reading through the message. "Dock 356 is available to us."

"Take us in."

The Normandy approached the outer hull of Omega, cloaking device having been shut down. Every ship in the vicinity gave the stealth vessel a wide berth, the (true) rumors of the Alliance ship sporting Republic technology having spread even in the Terminus Systems.

Even the Shadow Collective warships hesitated to approach, knowing that the vessel was more than capable of gutting through their ships with ease. It could be said without question that the Normandy was currently the most dangerous ship currently in the Omega system, which was why they were quick to get permission to land at Omega itself.

...

"Well, you were right." Aria murmured. "Shepard is here."

Inside Afterlife, the two Zabraks and the Asari ruler watched a hologram as the Normandy moved up to one of the many docking ports available. Maul smiled grimly as the vessel docked to the airlock, then turned to Aria.

"This is now a proper test of our partnership. Now, I have to know; what will you do now that Shepard's here?"

"If you mean to ask for my help in capturing or killing Shepard, then the answer is no." Aria stated bluntly. "But, I will not hinder your efforts either."

"That's all I need to know." Maul then activated his comlink, displaying a hologram of Locus and Felix. "Prepare the trap."

"Understood." Was all Locus said before the hologram disappeared.

As Maul and Savage left the booth, Aria had one final thing to say. "Good luck." She drawled sarcastically. "You're going to need it."

...

The airlock door opened, allowing Shepard, Garrus, Tali and Ashley to step foot on Omega itself. Unsurprisingly, the stench of blood and shit wafted over them, rather typical for the heart of the Terminus Systems.

"I hate this place." Garrus muttered, groaning in disgust and shaking off his boot as he stepped in... something.

"So where are we going first?" Ashley asked.

"Afterlife. We're going to talk to Aria." Shepard said. "If Darth Maul is here, she'll know."

"And what if she's working with him willingly?" Tali pointed out.

"Then we may have a fight on our hands." The Spectre sighed. "Which is why it's good we have an ace in the hole."

...

Shortly after Shepard left with the ground team, two others exited an airlock on the other side of the station, wearing long cloaks with their hoods up, so any hidden cameras couldn't see their faces. Cortez had deployed them in the Normandy's dropship, undetected and cloaked, so they could board unseen. Once on the station, they set to work, heading for the outlying sections of Omega.

The two superheroes had read the reports on Omega, and they couldn't help but feel rather disturbed at the parallels with their own universe. Artemis couldn't believe the crime rates here; they made Gotham City look like a crime-free location.

For his part, Wally was unnerved at the similarities between Aria T'Loak's rule over Omega and Queen Bee's dominion over Bialya. The speedster only hoped that the asari couldn't dominate men's minds as easily as the Bialyan monarch.

The two of them moved quickly and quietly through the streets, attracting little attention as they completed their tasks. At one point, a couple of foolish young gang members attempted to mug the two of them. It only took several broken bones for them to realize that was a bad idea.

"I really don't like this place." Artemis muttered, planting a device on the wall.

"You and me both, babe." Wally kept a lookout, making sure no one else was coming. "After this, we're definitely going home."

"No argument here." Artemis came up to join him. "Let's keep going."

"Hopefully, Shepard's mission is going well." Wally said as they walked down the street.

"Don't count on it." Artemis snorted. "From what we've seen of Shepard's luck, we're going to need to move quickly."

"Well, I am good at moving quickly." To demonstrate his point, Wally left with his devices and came back in a second, having planted all of them across the district.

"Show off." Artemis said, though she couldn't keep the smile off her face.

...

Joker sat in the Normandy's cockpit, feeling tense from all the warships around him. So far, the Shadow Collective vessels hadn't acted in an overtly hostile manner, but the pilot couldn't help but feel on edge.

"EDI, any traffic we should know about?"

"No Jeff. I am not detecting anything unusual in Omega's frequencies."

That was rather odd. Considering Shepard's arrival, one would think that most criminal channels would be flooded with warnings or arrogant boasts about how they would kill the Hero of the Citadel.

"Keep scanning." Joker said. "And make sure we're ready to leave at a moment's notice."

"Aye, aye."

...

Aria watched the feeds with interest, observing as the Sith Lord's men prepared the trap and ensured that Shepard would only have one path to go to. It was simple, but intelligent; lure the Commander into their trap with his desire to minimize who knew he was here.

Still, it didn't seem that Shepard was going in without a plan: One of her sources had alerted her to an airlock opening on the other side of the station, despite the fact that no ship was detected near it.

Furthermore, her agents were unable to determine if anyone had actually used that airlock, but it seemed very likely. Of course, she had no reason to inform Maul of this latest development.

...

It was time. Ventress opened her eyes and looked up. Her chance to escape from Maul and Savage had arrived. She would no longer have to cower in this wretched hive, fearing the chance that the two Zabraks would come for her.

Grabbing what little possessions she had, which consisted solely of her equipment and lightsabers, the Nightsister began making her way to the upper levels of the station. She only had one chance, and she had to make it work.

...

Shepard walked through the maintenance tunnel, with Tali to his left and and Ashley to his right, with Garrus taking up the rear. This wasn't an ideal route to take, and definitely wasn't their normal one, but a rather large gang checkpoint at the closest route to Afterlife had forced them to take an alternative route.

Of course, the four of them could've gone straight through and either convinced them to let them past, or fight their way through, but that would likely draw even more attention to their presence, something Shepard was loathe to do with all these professional criminals around him.

To that end, Shepard had asked EDI for an alternate route, and she had recommended one of the old maintenance tunnels in a nearby alcove. The entrance had been sealed shut, but Tali had easily been able to hack it open.

Now, they were cautiously making their way through, following the waypoint EDI had initially set as they tried to leave the cramped hallways. A lot of the paths were blocked off, and the team was constantly taking detours to get around. Soon, they had a new problem.

"EDI, we've hit a dead end." Shepard called, lighting the collapsed pathway with his omni-tool. "We need an alternate route." Static answered him. "EDI?"

"I don't like this Shepard." Garrus said, making it as ominous as possible.

"Something's blocking our comms." Tali said, scanning with her own omni-tool. "It's not the tunnel. Someone set up a jamming field in here."

"Damnit." Ashley cursed. "We walked right into a trap."

"Weapons out." Shepard ordered. "They're not going to take us without a fight."

Drawing their weapons, the team advanced slowly in the darkness, their lights on as they tried to determine who or what was after them. They cautiously moved through the tunnels, expecting a mercenary ambush around every corner.

What they hadn't expected was for some sort of energy pulse to spread through the passages, scrambling electronics and leaving a loud ringing in all their ears. Seconds later, a cloud of gas drifted into the tunnel as well, causing Garrus and Ashley to start coughing.

Shepard watched as his crew fell to the gas and pulse one by one. He was the last one to fall, struggling to keep conscious as the effect of the gas began to overtake him. Suddenly, a shape appeared over him. There was a large impact on his head, and all he knew was darkness.


	18. Saving Shepard

"Several Shadow Collective fighters are on approach." EDI reported. "And they're attempting to lock the clamps in place."

"Disengage the docking clamps and get us out of here." Joker said, which EDI immediately complied to.

The two of them detached the Normandy from the station, as a pair of the rear turrets slagged the StarVipers coming up behind them. The Shadow Collective ships attempted to intercept, but the frigate disappeared before they had a chance.

Joker internally cursed. This had all started when the Normandy had lost contact with the ground team, which EDI had quickly figured out was from someone jamming their comms. After the Shadow Collective became hostile, it didn't take a genius to figure out what happened: someone had ambushed Shepard, possibly killing him.

With no messages from anyone else though, he couldn't confirm or deny that. And after everything they'd been through, he refused to abandon the crew to a ruthless Sith Lord, not until he was sure there was no alternative.

"EDI, contact the ground team, see if you can get a hold of them."

"I am unable to contact Shepard, Garrus, Tali, or Ashley." The AI said. "However, I am getting a signal from the Wests."

"Well put them on." Joker said, feeling a bit better. If anyone had a chance of saving Shepard, it was them.

"Patching them through."

* * *

Shepard painfully came back to consciousness, and struggled to rise, his hands having been cuffed behind his back. His armor was still on, but his weapons had been taken, but he was alive at least. His thoughts turned to his crew, but were then distracted by the door opening and two armored individuals walking through.

"Well well well, the great Commander Shepard, in the flesh." Felix mocked, standing over the kneeling Spectre. "You know, I gotta tell ya, from all the stories I've heard, I thought you'd at least put up more of a fight."

Felix leaned his helmet close to Shepard's face, allowing the Commander to headbutt the merc. Stumbling backward, Felix regained his composition as his voice lowered in anger.

"Oh, I'm gonna have a lot of fun with you." Felix spluttered as he pulled a knife from his chestplate. Before he could get do anything, Locus grabbed his knife arm.

"Lord Maul wants him alive and intact." The deep voice said, as Felix tore his arm away in resignation. Locus turned his faceplate to Shepard. "For now, anyway."

Felix sighed. "Why do you have to take the fun out of everything?"

Ignoring the bickering of the two mercenaries, Shepard looked around, taking a quick tally of his crew. Garrus, Tali and Ashley were all present as well, groggily waking up, having been captured when they blindly walked into that trap.

Shepard cursed himself for that mistake. He should've seen that coming, but he couldn't believe that Aria would actually work for the Shadow Collective. Clearly, he hadn't known her well enough, and now, with no communications or way to contact the Normandy, all of the ground team would pay for that mistake.

'Wait a minute...'

Shepard blinked and took stock again. Kid Flash and Artemis weren't here. They hadn't been at the ambush site, and even if they were, they could've easily escaped. He just had to hope that they would find them soon.

* * *

Meanwhile, the two superheroes had been busy, planting cameras and recorders all over Omega as a favor from Shepard's lover, Liara T'Soni. With the Sith Lord present, it had been increasingly difficult for her agents to get any listening devices anywhere. But, for the two of them, especially Kid Flash, it was rather trivial.

But now, that no longer mattered. EDI had lost contact with Shepard and the rest of the ground team, and the rest of them were missing in action. Wally had immediately ran to their last known location but could find no trace of the Commander.

So now, the two superheroes were stuck on Omega, as the Normandy had disengaged from the docking clamps as soon as several Shadow Collective fighters had moved to intercept. Now, the frigate was cloaked as it drifted around the station.

"Anything EDI?" Artemis asked, as her husband paced restlessly.

The two of them had discarded their working clothes, revealing the costumes underneath. It occurred to Wally that they would probably be needing new clothes at the rate they were discarding them on strange alien worlds. With their masks on, they were now waiting for any news.

"I am unable to find where they are keeping Shepard." The AI replied. "They seem to be taking steps to ensure he can't be tracked by an AI."

"Well, that's just great." The archer groaned. "That means they could just kill him and we'd never know."

"I doubt that, babe." Wally said. "What's the one constant about most villains in the multiverse?" Artemis blinked and smiled in understanding.

"They love a spectacle."

"Exactly. And the execution of Commander Shepard and the chance to further his own reputation is too good to pass up on. If Maul does plan on killing him, it'll be in public."

"And then, we get them out."

"If you intend to do that, I need access to their communications algorithm." EDI said. "The Shadow Collective has found a way to hinder my attempts to scan for Shepard and his team. You will need one of their comlinks." Wally vanished and returned in three seconds, now holding a comlink in his hand.

"Done."

...

True to form, it didn't take very long for EDI to splice into the Shadow Collective's comms. It took a bit longer for them to finally listen in, but when they finally heard Maul's voice, it was exactly what they were hoping for. He was ordering his forces to a nearby plaza to prepare for Shepard's execution.

Artemis and Kid Flash hid in an alley, as dozens of mercenaries, criminals, and all around dregs of society passed by, heading to the location stated in Maul's announcement. It seemed that their speculation had been right on the money.

"Joker, we need you to get to the closest airlock or docking bay you can."

"Alright, just tell me when you have Shepard and I'll be waiting."

Kid Flash picked up his wife and brought them both to the outskirts of the plaza in question. Soon, the two superheroes were out of sight, watching as nearly a hundred criminals had already gathered. There was no sign of Maul or Shepard, but that would no doubt change soon.

"Ok." Wally drawled nervously, setting his goggles to infrared. "Between all these guys and a pair of Force-users, this might be tricky."

"We just need to free Shepard and the team." Artemis said, pulling her bow from her hip, which expanded in her hand. "Between all of us, we might stand a chance."

"Suggestions?" Artemis looked around and spotted a nearby rooftop.

"I'll get a higher position and hit them from there." The archer replied. "When you can, hit the two Zabraks first. If we want to get the team out alive, we'll need to remove the powerhouses."

"So our usual strategy? Sounds good to me, babe." Wally said.

With a quick kiss for luck, the two superheroes separated, with Wally remaining just outside the plaza while Artemis used a grappling arrow to climb up to the roof. Unsurprisingly, there was a sentry there, but considering how rushed this whole event was, he wasn't the most attentive sort.

Artemis had him knocked out before he knew anyone was there, while EDI accessed his radio and kept giving situation updates in his voice, allowing Artemis to get a good look at what they were facing.

It wasn't going to be easy. With nearly fifty Shadow Collective soldiers and double the amount of mercs, this would be a tough fight for the two of them. If their Team was present, this would be child's play, and hopefully Shepard would help even the odds. Her musings were interrupted by the arrival of two figures.

"I've got eyes on Maul and Savage."

* * *

Shepard and his crew were led through a darkened hallway, with Locus, Felix at the front while six Death Watch soldiers escorted them. All eight of them were rather quiet, even Felix, a distinct contrast to most mercs if they had Shepard in their clutches.

Fortunately for the team, the cuffs they had on were actually fairly simple to get off with the right tools. It was rather time consuming, however, and in an enclosed space with no weapons, Shepard didn't like their odds against the walking armories known as Mandalorians.

Soon they reached the door at the end of the hall, which immediately opened at their presence. They were led into a plaza full of jeering criminals, with Darth Maul and Savage Opress standing on a slightly elevated platform.

"So glad you could join us." Maul said.

At those words, the Death Watch soldiers hit Ashley, Garrus and Tali with the butts of their rifles, putting them on their knees. Shepard briefly attempted to move and help, but Locus bashed him in the face with a shotgun before Felix dragged him forward.

"Should've figured you'd be behind this." Shepard spat. "Too lazy to do your own grunt work?"

"You're hardly worth my time." Maul smirked. "Fortunately for you, I intend to make this quick."

Gripping his hand, Maul lifted Shepard into the air with the Force, causing the Commander to gasp and splutter as all air left his lungs. Maul smirked and lifted him into the air, as a spectacle for the crowd of criminals and mercenaries.

"The great Commander Shepard!" Maul addressed the jeering crowd. "The hero of the Citadel! The savior of the Reaper war!" He slammed Shepard to the ground hard. "Now just a footnote in history."

Shepard struggled to get up, only succeeding in getting his posterior in the air, to the amusement of the crowd. He felt a mechanical arm grab the back of his head and jerk his body and gaze upward, as Savage forced him to look into the eyes of the Sith Lord.

"After I kill you, Aria will be next." Maul whispered. "Her time is over." The Darksaber ignited in his hand. "As is yours."

Maul raised the Darksaber above his head, ready to strike the killing blow. Shepard knew that a distraction was needed now, to give him and his team of three time to break free from their restraints. And that is exactly what they got.

The brothers felt their danger senses spike, as the only warning to the imminent attack. It was barely enough time to prepare themselves before a yellow and red blur clotheslined Maul and slammed into Savage. As the Darksaber flew out of his hand, the Sith Lord fell to the floor, dazed, while Savage was thrown back several feet by the impact.

The two of them had called upon the Force to soften the blow, which was the only reason they were still conscious right now. They could see as the blur halted and resolved itself into a young man wearing a yellow and red costume. Standing before the shocked forces, who were no doubt trying to process what just happened, and what their attacker was wearing, when the redheaded metahuman broke the silence.

"Alright, who's next?"

That pushed the Shadow Collective out of their stunned stupor, and they let loose at where their opponent had been standing a second ago. Meanwhile, the yellow blur quickly made its way through the criminal ranks, knocking several soldiers unconscious in seconds.

The Nightbrother was the first to recover, already drawing his lightsaber. This proved to be a mistake as three arrows flew at Savage, one knocking the saber out of his cybernetic hand, the second hitting him in the face with its blunt tip, and the third releasing a payload of some sort of foam, imprisoning the Zabrak.

While many of Maul's forces and the non-allied criminals were confused about what was attacking them, the Sith knew different. He had seen this before, during his time with the Flood. Fighting costumed humanoids with abilities far beyond what even the Force could offer.

Maul shuddered at the thought of dealing with superheroes; they were easily the most dangerous threat in the multiverse after the Separatist Ruler and the Republic Supreme Commander. The Sith could remember the time he got in a one-on-one duel with the supervillain Deathstroke: The Zabrak had been lucky to escape with his life.

The Separatist-allied supervillains were extremely dangerous, but the Republic-allied superheroes were even moreso. The only upside was the no-killing code the superheroes operated on.

And they were clearly superheroes, as not a single person had died from their actions. However, during this time, Shepard and his team had broken free from their restraints and had reclaimed their weapons, and none of them had that same restraint. Now they were currently targeting anyone that Artemis and Kid Flash hadn't attacked.

And so as Shepard and his team took on the mercs, most of whom were reeling from the chaos and confusion from all the events happening, leaving them easy prey for the commandos. And throughout all this, the two superheroes sowed even more panic.

Kid Flash was just a blur: sprinting through the crowds of mercs, and knocking them down like bowling pins. Zigzagging through the enemy fire, he even ran on walls and pillars before jumping off and punching some of them in the face.

At one point he jumped off a wall at superspeed, using the increased momentum to knock out a krogan mercenary in one blow. This was just a sample as a dozen criminals fell to the costumed metahuman. However, Artemis wasn't willing to let her husband have all the fun.

Explosive arrows ripped through the crowd, sending dozens of soldiers flying and knocking many of them unconscious. Locus and Felix were knocked to the ground, but their armor spared them from the worst of the damage.

The two mercs got up, and Locus noticed Kid Flash making a beeline through the crowd. Drawing a grenade, he threw it in the speedster's path, causing him to trip up as he avoided it. Felix took aim, looking to capitalize on this, but KF was much faster than he thought, immediately recovering and rushing him.

After delivering a flurry of punches to both mercenaries at superspeed, Kid Flash clotheslined into both mercenaries at once, knocking them to the floor again, before taking off running through the crowd.

The grey and orange mercenary was the first to recover, struggling to his feet. While on his knees, Felix spotted Shepard fighting his way through the Shadow Collective. Pulling out his Magnum, Felix took aim at the Commander, only needing one good shot to put the Spectre down.

However, something lodged itself in the barrel just as he pulled the trigger, causing the high-explosive round to detonate inside the magnum. Furious, Felix got into his feet and pulled out his DMR, with Locus rising behind him as they attempted to trace whoever was shooting them.

Felix couldn't help but laugh when he got a look at what had destroyed his Magnum. 'Arrows?' He thought incredulously as he and Locus took aim at the archer on the rooftop. 'Who the hell uses arrows any-'

_BZZZTTT!_

All coherent thoughts were expunged from Felix's mind as 50000 volts coursed through his nervous system. Artemis had sent a pair of arrows, aimed for both him and Locus, but the two mercs held their ground, expecting their high grade combat armor to withstand such primitive weaponry.

What they hadn't expected was for the arrows to double as tasers, and now Locus and Felix were writhing on the ground as punishment for their arrogance. They were among the many who fell into the same trap.

A few mercs had hoped their kinetic barriers would protect them, but the fine tuned mass effect fields couldn't account for the much slower moving arrows, leaving the Blue Suns, Eclipse and Blood Pack vulnerable to the archer. At the same time, the speedster in their midst was moving so fast that their barriers couldn't hold against his blows.

Meanwhile, the Death Watch soldiers finally got a bead on Artemis' position, and six Mandalorians took to the air and bombarded her position with blasterfire and a pair of missiles.

Miraculously, the archer dodged all of it, side-flipping off her perch before the explosives hit. Simultaneously, she fired an arrow into the flying formation of soldiers, which exploded, releasing a cluster of little black spheres that magnetically attached themselves to the Mandalorian armor.

Before they could question what the purpose of that was, the spheres magnetically pulled the six into each other, causing the Mandalorian formation to fall. Meanwhile, Artemis had found another vantage point on a lower rooftop.

While Kid Flash kept running through the crowd, sending soldiers flying, Artemis kept up the pressure with several types of trick arrows, including flash arrows that blinded them, nets that kept them on the ground, tasers which stunned them, bolas, rockets, explosives and more.

The blonde archer could easily thank the Republic for allowing the more 'normal' superheroes access to their dimensional technology, which allowed for the archers and the Bat-Family to carry effectively unlimited amounts of their arrows, batarangs and general gadgets and weapons (Arsenal especially enjoyed that feature).

At that moment, she saw Maul shake off his injuries and pull out his lightsaber, already making a beeline for Tali. The blonde fired an arrow at the Zabrak who caught the projectile with help from the Force. Unfortunately for him, that played right into the archer's hand.

The arrow unleashed a concentrated knock-out gas, which Maul realized too late. The Sith Lord was able to disperse the bulk of it with telekinesis, but he had already inhaled enough to dull his senses, making it difficult to connect with the Force.

Rubbing his eyes and trying to clear the blurriness in his vision, the Sith noticed another arrow fly over his head and hit the wall behind him. Turning to look at it, he realized that there was a rope line attached to it, and he followed its path just in time to be decked in the face by Artemis, who used the zipline's momentum to increase the force of the blow.

Maul's lightsaber flew out of his hand leaving him weaponless, but he did not intend to go down easily. Artemis swung her bow at him, bashing him in the face, before unleashing a spinning kick to his midsection, breaking three of his ribs.

Angered, the Sith unleashed a flurry of jabs, hoping to break through her defense. But Artemis easily parried the blows before unleashing her own attacks, driving the experienced Sith Lord back. For all his skill, the Zabrak's fighting style was unimpressive compared to her father's training.

Through all this, Maul was still rather distracted, having been thrown for a loop at the appearance of the two superheroes: He had hoped that after severing ties with the Flood, he'd at least be free from facing some of the Republic's more dangerous agents again. Obviously, he had been mistaken. Coupled with whatever gas Artemis had used, and he rapidly found himself giving ground.

The girl was an impressive fighter, he would give her that, and she would easily beat him in a fair fight. Of course, he had no reason to fight fair, and his senses were rapidly becoming clearer.

Maul took another punch that sent him staggering, but he used that oppurtunity to summon the Darksaber to his hand. Igniting it, he retaliated with a series of slashes, and soon Artemis found herself in the same situation she had the Sith Lord in a moment ago.

Increasing his speed, Maul unleashed a rapid slash that should have been impossible to dodge, and yet she managed to avoid being bisected, no doubt due to training with her speedster partner. That's not to say that she came out completely unscathed, as the energy blade sliced her bow in two and singed her costume and skin.

Discarding the now useless weapon, the blonde archer ran at the Zabrak, sliding underneath a horizontal cut from the saber and retaliating with jab to his shoulder. Using the Sith's own momentum against him, Artemis disarmed Maul once again, ironically using a similar move to how he had acquired that weapon all those years ago. Before Maul could get any distance, the archer uppercutted him in the jaw, sending him back a step.

Tired of this little duel, Maul used her attack to his advantage, catching Artemis in a Force choke before hurling her into the wall. Wally noticed this, but before he could help his wife, Savage chose that moment to make his recovery known.

The Nightbrother released a massive Force repulse to break out of his prison, catching everyone nearby in the shockwave. Unfortunately, this included most of Shepard's crew and Kid Flash, who had been unlucky enough to have been running nearby when Savage made his move.

The Nightbrother looked at the Shadow Collective soldiers on the ground, as well as Commander Shepard, his crew and the two superheroes. He smirked at the sight of the latter, specifically their stunned/unconscious forms.

"A speedster and an archer." Savage growled as Maul rose and called his lightsaber as he walked toward the costumed humans.

"Here for our taking." Maul's red blade ignited with a snap-hiss.

Wally and Artemis lay on the ground stunned for a moment, while Death Watch soldiers surrounded Shepard's crew. At that instant, a bald, female humanoid with albino skin leapt into the middle of the Shadow Collective soldiers as two crimson lightsabers came to life in her hands.

"Did you miss me, boys?"

Surprised for only a second, Savage activated his lightsaber and charged, ruthlessly striking at Ventress. But the Nightsister blocked or avoided every move, fresh to the fight while the Nightbrother had already lost a lot of energy.

The same could be said of Maul: He tried to attack from behind her, but he was tired and his moves were sloppy. Still, even in their weakened state, they were a match for her, and the mercenaries that were still standing were liable to gun her down. She would fall if she continued alone. But she wouldn't be alone.

At roughly the same moment she arrived, Kid Flash was the first to wake up, followed quickly by Artemis. The two of them saw Ventress fighting the two Zabraks, and although they didn't know who she was, they were thankful for the save.

Turning away, Wally noticed as several mercenaries moved towards Shepard and his crew no doubt looking to execute them. In a heartbeat, he had knocked all of them away, and moved to wake them up.

"Hey Shepard," Wally greeted as the Commander rose to his feet. "I think it's time we made our exit."

"No kidding." Ashley groaned as she got up as well. She noticed a merc getting to his feet and aiming in their direction. She took aim herself, but Wally was faster, knocking their assailant on his ass and vanishing back into the fight. "Show off."

"Who's the girl with the lightsabers?" Garrus asked as he helped Tali up.

"Not sure, but we probably need to help her out."

At the moment, Ventress was in a blade lock with Savage, while Darth Maul was coming up behind her. The Nightsister was about to turn and engage the Sith when a blur of yellow and red sent the Zabrak flying.

The blur then struck Savage as well, breaking the Nightbrother's concentration and allowing Ventress to send him sprawling. With a brief moment of respite, she turned to her savior with an annoyed look.

"I had that under control."

"I'm sure you did." Wally said. "But I think it's time to leave, and I'm guessing you need a lift."

"It would help." The Nightsister admitted, before realizing Shepard and his team were already leaving, but were also under heavy fire from the Shadow Collective. In a moment, all of them would be cut down unless she did something.

Asajj Ventress backflipped in front of the group, avoiding blaster bolts and mass accelerator fire. Screaming, the Nightsister let loose a powerful Force Push that sent the assembled Shadow Collective forces sprawling. Drained from the exhaustion of such a move, Ventress collapsed, falling into Shepard's arms.

"We need to leave." Garrus said, taking potshots at the few rising Death Watch soldiers. Locus recovered and took aim at the fleeing Spectre, only to be knocked down once again by Kid Flash. Meanwhile, Artemis, having pulled out her backup crossbow, shot a volley of specialized arrows into the soldiers, pinning several of them to the ground.

"Get back to the Normandy, we'll cover you!" The archer shouted, as a pair of blunt arrows hit the heads of Maul and Savage when they rose to their feet. Her speedster husband struck the dazed brothers at superspeed, causing them to collapse once again.

"We're not leaving you!" Shepard shouted over the din, as more and more guards recovered from the Force push.

"We'll be right behind you." Kid Flash yelled, with a steely resolve in his voice, "Now go!"

After a moment, the Normandy crew ran back to their ship, while the two superheroes stayed behind. Artemis unleashed volleys of arrows as she slowly backed away, while Wally kept running through the guard's ranks, disorienting them.

Felix had once again recovered. At this point, he was utterly pissed about being knocked around so much. Pulling out four throwing knives, he hurled them one by one towards the blonde archer.

Artemis noticed this, and quickly dodged all of them, to Felix's utter shock. She chuckled inwardly; she had been dodging knives, shurikens, javelins and more since she was a child. Compared to her father, Felix was a rank amateur.

Shaking out of his stupor, Felix was able to activate to activate his hard light shield just in time to block another arrow, which latched itself to the end of the shield.

"You'll have to do better than that, bitch!" Felix shouted, but Artemis' answering smirk wasn't what he was expecting. Then the arrow on his shield beeped and began blinking red.

"Oh, son of a bi-" The arrow on Felix's shield exploded, sending the gray and orange merc flying backwards.

Locus attempted to retaliate, but Artemis dodged his sniper round and fired a net arrow at him, encasing the armored mercenary's torso in an electrified mesh. Despite the pain, he managed to stay on his feet, at least until Wally punched him in the face again.

Eventually, Maul and Savage recovered enough to start hurling debris at the archer, who somersaulted away to avoid it. Before she landed, Wally scooped her up and carried her bridal style, sprinting through the alleys of Omega.

"I guess it was time to leave." Artemis muttered.

"Yeah, I think we might have overstayed our welcome." Wally replied.

...

"Aria, shut down the airlocks and docking bays on the station." Maul shouted into his comlink. "Shepard and his team are escaping."

"Not my problem." The Pirate Queen sounded smug on the other line. "I told you, I'm not going to help you take him. Losing him is on you."

Snarling, Maul shut it down before turning to his Mandalorians. "Make sure they don't escape." His soldiers nodded and began flying after them. He knew it was a hopeless gesture.

Even if they hadn't reached the Normandy yet, the speedster would make sure they did within the next moment. And his forces would be unable to stop the Normandy from leaving. Of course, all of it could've been avoided if Aria had helped him with this, but she was clearly too soft for this kind of job.

And her weakness had cost them not only Shepard, his team, and two superheroes, but Asajj Ventress as well. It was clear to the Sith Lord that it was time for a change to take place on Omega.

...

When the two heroes went through the airlock, it took a second for EDI to register what had happened. Luckily, she realized it rather quickly, and sealed the airlock door as soon as they were through.

"We're in, let's go." Shepard ordered.

Joker and EDI wasted no time as they removed the ship from the station, having once again hacked into the clamp overrides in order to do so. The stealth frigate shot out from its berth, seconds before a fireball erupted from the location.

Several StarVipers hounded the vessel and herded it towards a Keldalbe-class battleship, but the rear mounted turrets took care of the former, while the ship's main guns tore the latter in half. After that, the Normandy cloaked, disappearing from all sensors, allowing it to jump away from the station unmolested.

...

Back on Omega, Maul had watched as the Normandy had escaped from his grasp, seething as the frigate tore through one of his most powerful warships. This whole plan had been an unmitigated disaster, and thanks to Aria, Shepard had been allowed to escape, this time with proof that could be brought to the IDA about his presence on Omega.

He had to accelerate his timetable, and do it soon. Politics would buy him some time, but he couldn't count on it to keep the IDA away forever. And all Aria would have to do to get in their good graces would be to give him up. She needed to go, and now.

"Prepare our forces." The Sith said, turning to Savage. "We'll need to take the station by storm and quickly."

"It will be done."


	19. Duel in Afterlife

In the end, taking Omega was far easier for the Shadow Collective than it had been for Cerberus. Considering how much they'd been integrating on Omega, it was rather trivial for them to ambush Aria's forces. Since they weren't expecting an attack, the element of surprise had caught most of them completely off guard.

A good number of them willingly joined up with the Shadow Collective, having become more afraid of the Sith Lord then they were of the Pirate Queen. Still others fought to the end, but were either slaughtered to the last, or were sold out by former allies.

...

Aria wasn't really surprised that this was happening, having known from the beginning that his forces were more than capable of beating hers. What was surprising was how many of her own people had turned against her.

Her control of Omega had clearly been slipping, which got worse when Maul claimed that she was the reason that Shepard still lived. A fact that was completely correct, unfortunately. Strangely, none of Maul's forces seemed to care about the beatdown the Collective had suffered at the hands of those ridiculous looking humans; they all seemed focused on the fact that Shepard had been lost.

Even some of her most loyal supporters had questioned her decision to let Shepard go. Maybe if the Commander was still here with those strange allies, she might have been able to keep hold of her station.

Still, Aria wasn't liking her chances now: with Ventress gone, she didn't exactly have good odds against Maul alone. And with her own people betraying her, fleeing wasn't a very viable option. But she didn't intend to go down without a fight. Walking over to a compartment hidden within the booth, she pulled out a small pack and strapped it on her back, then pulled out a silver cylinder.

Hopefully, the Merchant's delivered items would be able to even things out. She took a look at her omni-tool and saw that Maul and his forces were nearing her location. She would soon find out.

...

Aria's most loyal supporters refused to give in, guarding their boss' hangout with their lives. But it was all for naught as the criminal soldiers tore through their ranks with sheer numbers and superior skill.

Now, a strike team had gathered outside the heart of Aria's operations, with Darth Maul, Savage Opress, Locus and Felix leading the charge. To the credit of the guards outside, they stood their ground, even when they knew they were outmatched. Not that it helped them all that much.

The doorway to Afterlife exploded, with blaster shots gunning down the guards who tried to react. Death Watch soldiers strode through the dust and smoke, escorting Maul and Savage into the heart of the club.

"Took you long enough." To her credit, Aria wasn't concerned, not even bothering to get up from her couch. "I was wondering if you would ever get around to move against me openly."

"I'm surprised you're still here." Maul commented. "You could've easily escaped when you had the chance."

"You have control over the docking ports now." She replied. "Even if I fled the club, where could I go?"

"So you're willing to hand Omega over?" Maul didn't believe that for an instant, but it didn't hurt to ask.

"Oh, I didn't say that." Aria snarled. "I am Omega, and you should know its one rule already."

"Yes, I do." Maul made a grand gesture with both of his hands. "And obviously that rule is outdated."

"Prove it." The asari replied, smirking. "If you want Omega, you're going to have to take it from me, personally."

Everyone on the Shadow Collective side pointed their weapons at the Pirate Queen, prompting her own to do the same. Maul simply held up a fist commanding them to hold fire prompting Aria to do the same.

"A duel for the fate of Omega." Maul smirked. "That's your solution?"

"It's how I settled it with Patriarch." She replied. "He didn't succeed then, you won't now." Maul's reponse was to ignite his lightsaber, the red blade snap-hissing to life.

"We shall see."

...

The guards on both sides had backed away, giving Aria and Maul a makeshift arena in which to fight. Unsurprisingly, the Sith Lord was armed with his two lightsabers, with only one activated. What was surprising was the fact that Aria appeared to be completely unarmed, however.

The Sith Lord opened up the duel with Force Lightning, the forks of electricity making their way across the room in a heartbeat... only to promptly vanish a meter away from striking the asari. Aria smirked at his widened eyes.

"Ysalamiri Force blocker." She said, showing a small pack on her back. "You wouldn't believe how much this cost me."

The Ysalamiri Force blocker was a rare piece of technology, designed to protect one from the powers of the Force. It took the genetic traits of the Force-resistant Ysalamiri, and connected them here, creating a bubble in the Force well below the threshold that a Force-sensitive could activate.

Because of the rarity of Ysalamiri and the difficulty in isolating that genetic trait (not to mention how uncommon trained Force-users were in the multiverse), they were rather expensive pieces of hardware, only available to someone with a lot of money.

Since it was rather unlikely the Republic or Separatists would sell any of their models, it narrowed down the possible creators of this one. Of course, Maul could figure out who created it later, after Aria had been dealt with. Which was going to be much more difficult than first anticipated.

With the Force blocker in play, lightning and telekinesis would have no direct effect on the asari. So Maul went for the next best thing: reaching out with the Force, he grabbed a table and hurled it at Aria. Even if his grasp would cut out a meter from her, the momentum would still be enough to strike her.

But the Pirate Queen was prepared for that. An aura of blue fire surrounded her as she swatted the table aside and she retaliated with a Flare. Maul avoided the biotic missile but was still buffeted slightly by the explosion. That was all the opening Aria needed, as she charged toward the staggered Sith.

To Maul's surprise, she pulled out a lightsaber of her own, the purple hue of the blade only slightly brighter than her own skin tone. Bringing up his own red blade to block it, the two criminal rulers were caught in a bladelock, their weapons enhancing the savagery around them.

"You won't believe how much this cost me either."

She broke the bladelock, attacking him with everything she had, and with the Force blocker in play, she offset his own advantages. The two of them kept fighting, Aria's fighting style with a lightsaber did match one person Maul was familiar with.

"Very impressive." Maul said. "Ventress taught you well."

Her technique was effective, but sloppy, just like the former Dark Acolyte. Unfortunately, Ventress wasn't used to fighting with a single lightsaber, and it showed in Aria's technique. To compensate, she kept throwing biotic attacks at him, forcing him to break off time and time again. But it wasn't enough to break the Sith.

Maul fought like a cunning and ruthless animal, with vicious and calculated strikes. He even roared like one. Ultimately, this was also proving to be her undoing: constant use of her biotics was slowly weakening her, but the power of the Dark Side was just making him stronger. Even the use of the Force blocker couldn't change the fact that the Zabrak was still a far more experienced and ruthless fighter than her.

Eventually, Maul stopped playing around, and with an easy feint, cut straight through her lightsaber hilt. Aria fell back, the two sparking pieces of the now useless weapons hit the floor of the club as Aria struggled to get up.

"Did you really believe a few weeks would make you an expert?" Maul laughed.

"Maybe not." Aria growled, glowing with energy. "But I don't need to be one."

With that, she launched a flare attack, the massive explosive radius catching the Sith and sending him flying. Maul landed on his feet, only for Aria to charge forward and hit him with a biotically enhanced side-kick.

His lightsaber flew out of his hand from the blow, but in spite of that, the Zabrak was able to guide it with the Force, as the red blade was able to strike the pack containing the Force blocker.

In response, she threw another biotic blast at him, striking the Sith head on and causing him to fall to his knees. Even with his not inconsiderable resistance to pain, this was agony for Maul.

"This ends now." Aria charged herself up for one last biotic attack, giving Maul the opening he needed. Forks of lightning leapt from the Sith's fingertips enveloping the Asari and causing her to lose control of the dark energy holding the Sith in place. More bursts of Force Lightning followed and soon Aria was on her knees from the agony.

Smirking, Maul stalked over to Aria, kicking her hard in the stomach. She doubled over, gasping for air as the pain wracked her body. Grabbing her head, the Sith pulled her to a standing position, only to punch her hard in the face.

At this point, there was no more flashy lightsaber dueling, or biotic attacks. Maul simply and ruthlessly fought the asari in hand to hand combat, beating down Aria with his bare hands. The Pirate Queen was able to get a few good strikes in, but for every blow she landed, Maul retaliated tenfold. Eventually, the beatdown had proven to be to much for her and after one savage blow to the chest, she was doubled over on the ground.

"Your reign is at an end." The Zabrak said, kicking her once more and summoning the Darksaber to his hand.

"You-you think you can rule Omega?" Aria spat, staring at him defiantly. "I am Omega."

Maul smirked and activated the Darksaber. "Not anymore."

And with one quick and rather anticlimactic swipe, the Pirate Queen of Omega was no more. Her head rolled onto the floor, in front of the crowd of Aria's guards and Maul's own forces.

"Now," Maul pointed to Aria's guards and the Talons. "I want your complete and utter loyalty. Refuse, and suffer the consequences."

It took a moment, but one of the asari bodyguards fell on one knee and bowed to the Sith. Next, a krogan followed suit, and then another and another. Maul smirked as Aria's entourage and even the Talons made the proper choice and submitted to him.

"Good. Now open a channel to the rest of the station. It is time for Omega to learn that there is a new leader in charge."

...

It took but a moment for Darth Maul's face to be plastered over every video screen on Omega. Far and wide through the station, everyone halted what they were doing as the Sith's fearsome visage leered over them.

"People of Omega. This is the voice of your new ruler. Aria T'Loak has been deposed, and to those who wish to resist my rule, I offer a single choice: submit or suffer. Those who cooperate will be graciously rewarded. Those who do not," He pulled up the head of Aria. "will suffer the same fate as the station's previous ruler."

He put the head down, and shut off the video screen, leaving everyone to stew over this change of events. In the end, the next few hours were a busy time for the heart of the Terminus Systems.

Unsurprisingly, there were a fair number of people who resisted. Battle droids and Shadow Collective forces had to battle riots in the streets, and particularily large groups were cut off from the rest of the station and had the atmosphere vented around them.

It took some time, but with the Shadow Collective in complete control, any resistance was quashed easily, and those with dissenting thoughts learned very quickly that it would be beneficial for them to keep those thoughts to themselves.

Back in Afterlife, after witnessing and commanding all of this, Maul turned to the engineers who had turned Omega into a veritable fortress. "Get your tasks done, now. I want to be mobile within the next solar day."

* * *

Unknown space station

"Doctor, we have received new reports." Glyph said. "It appears Darth Maul has launched a coup against Aria T'Loak."

"He's getting desperate." Liara realized, looking over the data herself. "He knows that Shepard's word will be enough to turn them."

Once they had left Omega, Shepard had given her all the information she needed. And thanks to the two superheroes, she now had a more comprehensive view of Omega than she did previously. Because of that, it wasn't surprising when Maul immediately challenged Aria for the rule of Omega. The clout he had gained from merely capturing Shepard was still enough for much of the population and Aria's forces to switch loyalty to him.

"Hopefully Aria can keep him occupied for a bit." The Shadow Broker murmured. The next words legitimately surprised her.

"Highly unlikely." Glyph stated. "Aria T'Loak is dead. Most of her forces are surrendering to Maul, and those that aren't have been killed."

"By the Goddess. So soon?"

"Indeed, Doctor. What are your orders?"

"We need to act now." Liara stood up. "Get all this information to the Council immediately. This, along with Shepard's testimony should ensure the IDA will actually respond."

"Understood Doctor T'Soni."


	20. Fleeing Omega

Shadow Broker station

Liara had been hard at work, sending all the information that had been gathered from the scanning devices that had been placed by Kid Flash and Artemis. The scanners had done wonders, mapping out schematics and updates to the station, as well as cataloguing all the new offensive and defensive capabilities.

Unfortunately, the scanners had only been active for a short time before they started disappearing, one by one. The Shadow Collective had become very good at finding her devices, no doubt thanks to the Force powers of Maul and Savage.

Still, the knowledge was more than comprehensive enough to get the IDA involved, especially the Jedi. Combined with the tactical knowledge that had been gained, and the IDA would stand a good chance of capturing Maul once and for all.

...

UNSC Point of No Return

Admiral Serin Osman watched the display impassively. The joint Omega military force was ready, and in a heartbeat, jumped into their respective FTL passages. A small smirk spread across her face in spite of herself.

She had been wanting to capture Maul and remove the Shadow Collective for a long time now, especially after the Sith forced her to back off. And thanks to an anonymous tip (which ONI had confirmed had come from the Republic-allied Shadow Broker), they now had what they needed to get the IDA involved, along with the details of all the defenses Omega had been upgraded with. And though Osman would've preferred to keep this among ONI, allowing the IDA to take Maul would still allow access for the rest of the UNSC.

That said, getting to this hadn't been without challenges: Evidence had been released from one of Aria's accounts, linking the Pirate Queen of Omega and Councilor Tevos with all sorts of illicit dealings.

Of course, Osman had known that for quite some time, and it was enough to have Aria burned as well. The fact that it had been released to coincide with Aria's death meant it was pretty obvious what the asari's fate was.

Because of that, the Terminus Systems were in an uproar, which had given the IDA another excuse to go in, and another challenge to solve, bypassing the Council's attempt to stonewall the UNSC, Sangheili and GA from going in.

The Council was raising a stink of course, but it was rather ineffectual considering Tevos' corruption called Sparatus', Valern's and Osoba's connections into question. And this time, they couldn't delay any longer, and relented enough to dispatch military forces to Omega, with a strike team of Jedi among them to help capture Maul.

Now, they only had to wait for the inevitable.

* * *

Omega

"Scandal on the Citadel today, as Councilor Tevos was found with connections to the crime lord Aria T'Loak." The newscaster reported on the screen. "Documents leaked on the extranet detail illicit dealings between the former asari councilor and the so called Pirate Queen, stretching back centuries."

"So far, we can't confirm the identity of the individual or individuals who leaked this information, but according to our sources, it's rumored that the information came from one of Aria T'Loak's own accounts, as a failsafe if she died. If this is true, then it begs the question; if Aria T'Loak is indeed dead, then who is in charge of the Terminus Systems?"

"Why do they always have to sound so dramatic?" Felix said, watching the screen as he leaned against the wall. He was interrupted by Locus shutting it off. "Might as well, there's nothing good on."

Locus ignored his partner, instead he observed all the work that had been done in the last day. He couldn't help but be impressed at how much work the Shadow Collective had been able to do in such a short time. Now Maul was apparently meditating in Aria's old booth, with Savage nearby.

A day after the takeover of Omega, the tasks had been complete. Much of the Shadow Collective's manpower had been put to use pacifying the population, but they were able to spare enough to get their job done in a quick and timely fashion. Furthermore, the science team had been brought in, and were able to ensure that all their needed tech was working smoothly.

Now, it would be put to the test, as dozens of FTL, hyperspace and slipspace signatures appeared in the system proper. The IDA had finally confirmed that Darth Maul was here (thanks to an anonymous tip from the Shadow Broker) and intended to bring him in.

"Brother, the IDA has found us." Savage stated, looking at the newly converted display in Afterlife, interrupting the Sith Lord's meditation.

"So it would seem." Maul nodded, taking a look at the holoscreen. "However, they have arrived too late." He turned to one of the nearby technicians as they worked on the consoles. "Are we ready?"

Afterlife was no longer a night club anymore. It had become a command and control center for all of Omega, with more and more control systems being moved in daily. Things hadn't changed completely: Aria's booth and couch was still present, the former used as Maul's personal ready room while the latter would inevitably be discarded, but aside from that, little remained of the original Afterlife club, having been replaced by a multi-tier control center.

"All systems check out." The technician replied, looking over a datapad. "All tests have been completed. We're ready to leave at your command."

"Then let us no longer waste any more time." The Zabrak said. "Order the fleet to evacuate and get us under way."

...

In the outer system of Omega, hundreds of vessels of varying classes gathered: UNSC and Sangheili warships joined alongside the warships of the Galactic Alliance, Imperial Remnant and Citadel Council, as they all were ready to bring the rogue Sith in by any means. Onboard most of the GA ships were Jedi Knights, who would form the backbone of the team that would capture Maul and Savage.

The captains and Admirals on board the fleet were unsurprised to see most of the ships surrounding Omega immediately jump out of the system. What they were not expecting was for Omega to begin moving under its own power, as hundreds of ion drives lit up among the station's hull.

The ships capable of it immediately made micro-jumps into Omega's vicinity in an attempt to halt the escape attempt, but were stymied and halted in their tracks when Omega jumped into hyperspace.

...

"We're clear." The helmsman reported as the rest of the bridge crew let out a collective sigh of relief. "All systems nominal. We will be at the rendevouz point in a few hours."

"Excellent, you have done well." Maul had a flicker of genuine pride in his voice as he looked over the main hologram of his new flagship.

Omega was no longer a space station. It was now fully capable of moving under its own power, both in sublight and FTL speeds. Combine that with the ridiculous amount of weapons that had been installed in the last several months, plus the natural armor from the asteroid it was formed around, and Darth Maul had a flagship that was capable of rivaling the Super Star Destroyers in his home galaxy.

The station's interior was also redesigned. Gone were many residential areas, having instead been converted to weapons and vehicle factories, churning out more of the Zann Consortium's armor and artillery, as well as weapons for everyone else. The residents who remained had either been drafted into Maul's army, or were forced to run the new systems for Omega.

Furthermore, the Sith wasn't going to put all his eggs in one basket. In the event of failures in Omega, the Scimitar was docked on the asteroid, the bridge tower proper was inside Omega itself, hidden in an area of the mines. In the event that Omega would be lost, Maul would be able to flee through a hidden tunnel and escape on his old flagship.

"Now, we are not finished yet." The Sith stood up. "We must rally the rest of the Terminus Systems. They will distract the IDA long enough for us to leave the region."

With quick acknowledgements, everyone began moving: the bridge controllers got back to work, under the watchful eyes of several Mandalorians and Savage. Locus and Felix left the room with Gar Saxon, going to make sure that their forces were ready to go to war.

As everyone got to work, Maul sat back on the soon to be discarded couch, grinning at what was to come. Aria had lost her life, and now all that she had was now his. Softly, Maul quietly sang a rhyme from his childhood. It was rather fitting to describe the situation.

"Far above, far above, we don't know where we'll fall..."

...

"Far above, far above," A rasping baritone voice echoed, "What once was great is rendered small."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone is wondering, the voice at the end is indeed that of the Gravemind. Remember at the very beginning of this fic where Maul believed that his betrayal and escape had completely blindsided the Gravemind? Yeah... it didn't.


End file.
